Does Medicare cover a mastectomy bra?

By VerifiedCareData · How we check. Last checked August 29, 2026. Part of the full mastectomy recovery checklist. No affiliate links on this page — every link below goes to a primary source or another page on this site.

Yes. Medicare Part B covers some external breast prostheses, including a post-surgical bra, after a mastectomy — billed as HCPCS code L8000, priced at a $59.59 national fee-schedule ceiling, with a 20% coinsurance after your Part B deductible. That's unusual: none of the other four items on our mastectomy checklist (the drain camisole, the shower pouch, the pillow, or the sleep wedge) are billed through Medicare's DME fee schedule at all. Separately, if you have employer or group health insurance, a different federal law — not Medicare — requires your plan to cover prostheses too.

How does Medicare Part B coverage actually work?

Medicare.gov states this plainly on its own coverage page: Part B covers external breast prostheses, including a post-surgical bra, after a mastectomy. Two numbers determine what you actually pay:

• The Part B deductible comes first. You pay 100% of your Part B costs until you hit the annual deductible — $283 for 2026.
• Then 20% coinsurance applies. Medicare pays 80% of the Medicare-approved amount, and you owe the remaining 20% — about $11.92 on L8000's $59.59 fee.

Both numbers assume a Medicare-enrolled supplier who accepts assignment, and a doctor's prescription or order — ask your provider about billing through a prescription before buying a bra yourself if you want to try for Medicare reimbursement.

The full family of Medicare codes: what else does this benefit cover?

L8000 is one of eleven related codes under Medicare's breast-prosthesis benefit. We have only confirmed a price for L8000 itself. The others are listed by code and description, with no fee figures.

L8000 is the code for a mastectomy bra on its own; L8001/L8002 add an integrated breast form (unilateral/bilateral); L8010-L8039 cover sleeves, external garments, forms, silicone prostheses, and a custom-molded option. Source: CMS HCPCS Level II quarterly file, July 2026 release.

What does Medicare's own product list show?

Palmetto GBA's DMECS Product Classification List for the "Breast Prostheses" category has 1,173 real, brand-classified products. 734 of them are tagged L8000 specifically; 355 have "bra" or "camisole" in the product name, from manufacturers like Amoena USA Corp. This confirms the category is real and actively billed, not a code that exists in theory only.

What about private or employer insurance — is that the same thing?

No — it's a separate legal mechanism, and this page keeps the two separate. The Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1998 (WHCRA), codified at 29 U.S.C. § 1185b, requires group health plans — typically employer insurance, not Medicare — that cover mastectomy and elect breast reconstruction to also cover:

If you're a Medicare beneficiary, the L8000 coverage above is your relevant mechanism. If you have employer or group health insurance and are electing reconstruction, WHCRA is the law that applies to you instead — the two aren't the same program, and neither one is a substitute for the other.

What doesn't Medicare cover on this checklist?

Everything else. The drain-management camisole, the drain shower pouch and lanyard, the chest/underarm support pillow, and the torso-incline sleep wedge are not billed through Medicare's equipment fee schedule. We checked all 68 Medicare equipment codes this site tracks, and none apply to any pick on this page. The bra is the one exception, and even then, it's billed under Medicare's prosthetics benefit specifically, not the general DME benefit that covers a walker or a hospital bed.