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Benefits and risks of living organ donation

Financial considerations

Before deciding to donate, it might be helpful to learn about the different costs of donating. There are medical costs that are covered by the recipient’s insurance and other costs that might be covered by financial assistance programs. The transplant team will talk to you more about these costs during your evaluation.

Which transplant costs are covered?

A transplant recipient’s insurance generally covers a living donor’s medical costs, including:

  • Evaluation

  • Lab work

  • Imaging, like CTs and X-rays

  • Surgery

  • Hospital stay from surgery

If a donor has health problems after surgery related to donating, the recipient’s health insurance or the transplant center will help to cover these costs.

Which costs are not covered?

A recipient’s insurance does not cover the costs below because these are considered routine healthcare that everyone should be getting, whether they donate or not:

  • Routine tests such as a colonoscopy, a mammogram for women, or a prostate exam for men

  • Medical care if donor evaluation shows that a donor has a disease that needs to be treated before donating

  • Long-term medical care if the donation causes a donor problems

  • Follow-up care for the rest of a donor’s life

If you don’t have health insurance, talk to the transplant team about finding low cost or free clinics in your area for these healthcare services.

Other benefits that may help you

If you are employed, talk with your employer about other benefits that could be helpful. These include:

  • Vacation time

  • Disability pay

  • Sick time

  • Leave of absence

  • FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) – this may give you up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for medical needs

What financial help is available for donors?

HRSA’s Living Organ Donation Reimbursement Program

Health Services and Resources Administration’s (HRSA) Living Organ Donation Reimbursement Program (LODRP) reimburses up to $6,000 of certain expenses for living donors and their caregivers on their trips to the transplant center for evaluation, surgery, and medical follow-up visits, such as:

  • Travel, lodging, and meals

  • Lost wages

  • Child and dependent care costs

To be eligible for reimbursement:

  • The donor and recipient must both be U.S. citizens or lawfully present residents.

  • The donor and recipient must both live in the U.S. or its territories.

  • The donor’s application must be submitted and approved before the transplant surgery.

  • The donor’s yearly household income (when they apply) should be at or below 500% of the U.S. Federal Poverty Guidelines.

Non-directed living donors (who are not donating to a specific person) can apply alone, without their recipient’s information.

Before evaluation, talk to the transplant center about HRSA’s LODRP, including the full eligibility guidelines and types of expenses that can be reimbursed.

The LODRP is administered through the National Living Donor Assistance Center (NLDAC).

Other financial resources

There are programs that can help with non-medical costs of donating a kidney. Talk to your living donor social worker about other financial resources that may be available to you. 

  • National Kidney Registry Donor Shield: A program that can offer reimbursement for certain costs such as lost wages, lodging, meals, and even pet care.

  • Alliance for Paired Kidney Donation (APKD): Donor Protect provides protection for every living kidney donor who donates a kidney through the APKD. This includes priority for a living donor transplant, should a living kidney donor ever need one, and financial support.

These are not all the possible resources that may be available to you, and their inclusion on this website is not an endorsement of these services.

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