Commentary: Giving the gift of life should not be a matter of wealth
When I gave the gift of life by donating my kidney to a stranger back in 2020, I followed in my son’s footsteps.
Six months after my son donated his kidney at age 19 to a 21-year-old stranger (who we found out has now finished college and is expecting a baby), I donated mine and launched a kidney chain for four people to receive life-saving kidneys, just one month before our COVID lockdown.
For organ donors, the physical sacrifice is obvious. But why do donors also endure a financial hit when living organ donation saves both lives and so much taxpayer money?
Earlier this year, both the state Senate and Assembly unanimously voted to pass the Living Donor Support Act . The act would provide for state reimbursement of medical and associated expenses to living organ donors who are state residents when they donate an organ to a person who is also a resident of New York. If Gov. Kathy Hochul signs the bill, New York will become the first state to reimburse organ donors’ costs and lost wages.
Currently, only 8 percent of donors are reimbursed for expenses and lost wages. For those who do not have money to spare, that financial burden stops them from donating.
In the words of one construction worker I spoke to who wished to give his kidney to his father, “I have to choose between going into debt or saving my father’s life.” Because we cannot lift anything heavy for six weeks post-surgery, that potential donor would have to live without pay during the recovery time.
In addition to saving lives, organ donation also saves money. For example, when people get new kidneys, this generates $146,000 in savings to taxpayers and $1.1 million net welfare gain to society compared to dialysis. The Living Donor Support Act would increase living organ donation in New York by 20 percent, saving an additional 140 lives each year, as well as $14 million for state and federal taxpayers annually.
This cost savings does not factor in an additional financial benefit of transplantation. Every time an organ is transplanted, the recipient has the potential to go back to work and return to being a taxpayer. Some 7,000 New Yorkers are languishing on dialysis 12-30 hours each week, which has been described as a “living death.” Most will not survive long enough to receive a transplant.
At current donation rates, just 1,500 New Yorkers will receive an organ in the next year. Of the remaining 5,500, around 400 will die in that year. Black New Yorkers, who constitute 18 percent of the state population, will make up 36 percent of these deaths.
Nationally, 17 Americans die each day while waiting for a life-saving organ transplant. Every 10 minutes, someone joins the organ transplant list. Over 3,000 new patients are added to the kidney waiting list each month. The need for organs is growing, but donors cannot donate if they cannot afford the costs.
Those who step forward to donate will provide their recipient with a living organ that lasts twice as long as one from a deceased donor. With our current system, only the more affluent among us can give that gift of life. Passing the Living Donor Support Act is an important step in dissolving barriers to organ donation.
New Yorkers should urge Hochul to sign this bill when it comes to her desk, and make New York the country’s best place to donate organs.
