Living donors face many obstacles when donating an organ, such as getting approved time off for surgery or securing insurance coverage. However, many states have protections in place to aid living donors, and now Congress should too, LaVarne A. Burton, president and CEO of the American Kidney Fund, wrote in an op-ed published in STAT.
Here are six insights from the op-ed:
1. About 100,000 Americans on transplant waiting lists need kidneys, but donations from living donors are decreasing. Organ recipients have better chances acquiring a kidney from deceased donors, Ms. Burton wrote.
2. In 2017, about 30 percent of the 20,000 kidneys transplanted in the U.S. came from living donors. In 2018, more than 4,200 kidneys have been transplanted from living donors and more than 8,000 have come from deceased donors.
3. Medicare spends about $91,000 on dialysis annually per patient and only about $35,000 per transplant patient per year. "That makes encouraging living kidney donation not just good public policy, but also smart fiscal policy," Ms. Burton wrote.
4. As of March 2018, several states have passed legislation to protect living donors. Maryland even extended paid leave to living donors by giving companies a tax credit to offset their expenses.
5. The Living Donor Protection Act of 2017 would guarantee living donors receive unpaid time off through the Family and Medical Leave Act to have living donor surgery and recover without the fear of losing their jobs. Ms. Burton also said the bill would hinder insurers from declining or limiting coverage of a living donor under any life insurance policy, no matter the circumstance.
6. The federal legislation received 81 bipartisan votes in the House of Representatives, but the Senate does not have any similar legislation.
"It's not too late in this session of Congress to turn this act into law," Ms. Burton concluded. "Nearly 100,000 Americans on the kidney transplant waiting list, and their family members, would be most grateful."
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