Albany – Thanks to a new law, New Yorkers who donate a kidney or liver can now be reimbursed for expenses, including wages, lost during recovery.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed New York’s Living Donor Assistance Act into law on Friday. This is the first state program in the nation to allow “living donors” to be reimbursed for the cost of kidney and liver donations.
A living person can donate part of a kidney or liver, but surgery may require weeks of recovery. The goal of the new law is to increase the number of donors by removing financial barriers such as the cost of taking weeks off work.
Costs that may be reimbursed include up to four weeks’ worth of lost wages.
You may also be reimbursed for the monetary value of sickness and vacations used for donations, travel, lodging, childcare and elderly care. Medicines and health care may also be reimbursed, including care provided by the donor’s family.
“There is no greater gift a New Yorker can give than the gift of saving a life,” Ho-chul said in a statement. “Living organ donors are true heroes and with this law we are taking meaningful steps to support their sacrifice and save lives.”
The act amends public health, tax, and social services laws to establish a program to cover additional costs associated with organ donation when New Yorkers donate their organs to fellow New Yorkers.
There are currently 7,803 New Yorkers on the waiting list for liver and kidney transplants. According to the National Kidney Foundation, 13 people die every day nationwide while waiting for a kidney transplant, and others are so ill that they are left off the transplant list.
