Questions and Answers Explaining Medicare & Clinical Research Studies
Will I have to pay for any part of the study?
Medicare pays for:
routine costs of items and services in covered research studies. Examples of these items and services include:
• Room and board for a hospital stay that Medicare would pay for even if you weren’t in a study
• An operation to implant an item that’s being tested
• Treatment of side effects and complications that may occur as a result of the study
Medicare won’t pay for:
• The new item or service that the study is testing unless Medicare would cover the item or service
even if you weren’t in a study
• Items and services the study gives for free (many times the treatment will be provided free by the
study sponsor)
• Items or services used only to collect data and not used in your direct health care (like monthly EKGs
for a condition that usually requires only a yearly EKG)
• Coinsurance and deductibles