Compensation should be based on supply and demand

Incentives drive behavior—it’s one of the most reliable principles in economics and human nature. If AB positive plasma is both rare and universally useful, then a differential pay scale would directly increase its supply. Yes, I'm AB+ and very biased. My plasma can be given to anyone. In an emergency, that is a lifesaving reality. My blood type is also only about 4% of the population. Yet, I'm compensated the same as the less common and less needed blood types.

Think about it: the current system treats all blood types as equally valuable commodities, when in reality, their clinical utility varies enormously. O negative red cells and AB plasma are the two most universally compatible components. Yet neither is rewarded differently. That’s a holdover from a moral ideal. “Everyone gives equally” and "It's an altruistic act" are the mantras, rather than an efficient, OUTCOME-DRIVEN model.

A market adjustment wouldn’t mean abandoning ethics; it would mean aligning compensation with utility. If paying AB positive donors more meant even a modest rise in supply, that could translate into more emergency plasma for trauma, massive transfusions, and neonatal care- situations where compatibility matters most.

The only real barrier isn’t logic—it’s institutional inertia. Hospitals and blood banks operate under a nonprofit, donation-based framework that’s allergic to the idea of “price signals.” But if your metric is saving lives, not preserving a feel-good system, differentiated compensation makes perfect sense.