Guest Commentary-Support the Living Donor Protection Act

          I am asking people today to contact their Representatives in Congress and ask them to co-sponsor and support The Living Donor Protection Act. (HR 4616/ S 2584).

This law is designed to remove hurdles for people that want to donate kidneys.  Specifically, according to the National Kidney Foundation, it does 3 things:

1.     Prohibits life, disability, and long term care insurance companies from denying or limiting coverage or charging higher premiums for living organ donors;

2.    Clarifies that living organ donors may use the Family Medical Leave Act to recover from the surgeries and procedures involved in their donation without fear of losing their job or benefits; and

3.    It will cost the federal government no money.

The American Society of Nephrology has stated that the Act could potentially save Medicare between $565 million and $1.2 billion over 10 years.

When you consider that:

·       There are 26 million Americans are afflicted with Chronic Kidney Disease;

·       470,000 are on dialysis;

·       Over 100,000 are on a waiting list for a kidney transplant;

·       Only about 17,000/year get transplanted

·       12 Americans die every day waiting on that list for a transplant, that’s over 4000 people every single year;

We should do everything we can to make sure donors are not penalized by their insurance companies or employers when they want to donate.

You can help by contacting your Congressperson and Senators and request that they co-sponsor the bill.  Just follow this link and sign up: https://www.change.org/p/support-hr-4616-s-2584-the-living-donor-

protection-act/u/15697199.