I’m one of the lucky ones.
I needed a kidney transplant due to a genetic condition called polycystic kidney disease.
When I learned that more than 90,000 Americans remain on the kidney transplant waitlist — and that the wait for a kidney from a deceased organ donor in Arizona could be anywhere from two to six years — I was shocked.
What frightened me even more was discovering that 11 people die each day waiting for a kidney.
Fortunately, my life was saved thanks to the heroic act of an unrelated, living kidney donor.
Melissa Blevins was passionate about organ donation. We met more than a decade ago when she was administering the living donor program at Mayo Clinic’s Arizona campus.
Melissa told me she wanted to donate through the program so she could experience firsthand how to make it better, and amazingly, I was a match.
We need more live donors. But it’s costly for them
Risa Simon (left) stands with Melissa Blevins, a nurse who donated a kidney to save her life.
More lives could be saved if we had enough kidneys to go around, but unfortunately, that’s not the case.
Deceased donation alone will never be sufficient, as less than 1% of deaths occur under circumstances that allow for organ recovery.
The only way to truly end the kidney shortage is by dramatically increasing living donation — and to do that, we must eliminate the financial barriers that discourage people from stepping forward.
The total costs of kidney donation for a living donor can be as much as $38,000, including lost wages, related travel, housing, meals, donor-required caregivers, and child or elderly care for family members during recovery.
Unlike most donors who face rigid job situations or have children or elderly parents to care for, Melissa did not — though friends and family did take time off work to travel across the country to care for her.
While her employer supported her bravery and secured her position upon her return, we never discussed the financial burden she likely faced, though I believe it was significant.
Congress can offer a tax credit to help with expenses
Congress has a unique opportunity to change that.
The End Kidney Deaths Act (H.R. 2687) is a 10-year pilot program that would provide a refundable tax credit of $10,000 annually for five years to living kidney donors who donate to a stranger.
By year 10, H.R. 2687 could lead to 100,000 additional transplants, ending needless suffering, saving lives and cutting taxpayer costs by up to $37 billion.
That’s where I hope that my representative, David Schweikert, will step in.
He is a fiscal conservative, a health care reform advocate and a consistent supporter of innovation.
Opinion: I donated a kidney to a stranger. It shouldn’t be this tough to give
Schweikert has long supported removing barriers to care and unlocking economic efficiencies — values that align perfectly with the End Kidney Deaths Act.
He also is a key member of the influential House Ways and Means Committee, which not only has jurisdiction over taxes but also key programs like Social Security, unemployment insurance and Medicare.
His support could help shepherd this bill through Congress.
Living kidney donors are heroes. Let’s honor them
Today, the government spends nearly $50 billion each year on dialysis, a far costlier, riskier and less effective treatment compared to a functioning kidney transplant.
My father suffered for years and died in his early 40s after contracting hepatitis through dialysis treatments. My brother’s life was suddenly cut short by a massive heart attack, a leading cause of death among dialysis patients.
Thanks to Melissa, I was able to bypass dialysis altogether.
Living donors like her are heroes.
They undergo surgery, take time off work and endure pain — all to save the life of someone they may never meet.
They remove years of waiting for enough registered donors to die under conditions that allow for organ donation — not to mention that their kidneys function immediately and typically last twice as long than those from deceased donors.
Yet we ask them to shoulder these sacrifices without any compensation.
Offering a modest tax credit to living donors is a small investment with a powerful return: more lives saved and billions in taxpayer dollars preserved.
But it’s more than just policy. A tax credit is a recognition of sacrifice and a way to make living donation more accessible to everyday Americans.
As someone who mentors patients on the waitlist and works closely with kidney transplant organizations, I can say with confidence that this policy would change lives.
It will bring hope to those still waiting, and it will save thousands from dying needlessly.
Risa Simon is a longtime Arizona resident and patient advocate whose life was saved by a living kidney donor. Reach her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Live kidney donors deserve our thanks, not a $38,000 bill | Opinion
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