Living Donor Protection Act
Background
The "Living Donor Protection Act of 2021" was reintroduced in the 117th Congress by Representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) & Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) and Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) & Tom Cotton (R-Ark).
Where Did the Legislation Originate?
The AST's public policy team has worked alongside other national organ transplant stakeholder leader organizations as well as a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders to develop, introduce and further strengthen this important public policy proposal.
The national transplant advocacy community is now working together to drive the advancement of this key legislation through direct lobbying of Capitol Hill and encouraging grassroots contacts between association members (like yourselves) and their two U.S. Senators and one Member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
What Does the Legislation Do?
Under current law, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) does not specify that living organ donors can take unpaid leave to recover from their donation and does not guarantee that donors will have a job waiting for them after surgery. Further, according to a 2007 study in the American Journal of Transplantation, as many as 11 percent of living organ donors experience difficulty securing or paying for insurance after their procedures because of discriminatory practices.
The Living Donor Protection Act of 2021 would protect living organ donors and promote organ donation in three easy, low-cost ways:
- Prohibit life, disability, and long term care insurance companies from denying or limiting coverage and from charging higher premiums for living organ donors;
- Clarify that living organ donors may use FMLA time to recover from the surgeries and procedures involved in donation; and
- Direct HHS to update their materials on live organ donation to reflect these new protections and encourage more individuals to consider donating an organ.