We all deserve the best kidney care, no matter where we live or the color of our skin. However, many of the people who need a kidney transplant are lacking the opportunity to receive a living organ donation to help save their life.
Since 2021, the American Kidney Fund (AKF) has graded each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia on how well their laws encourage living organ donation and reduce barriers for living donors.
In our fourth annual Living Donor Protection Report Card, we are pleased to announce progress that was made in 2023. Michigan, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island and Wyoming all passed new laws that provide protection or financial support for living organ donors bringing the total number of states that have enacted living donor protections since the launch of the report card to 32.
While this represents significant progress, we have more work to do. In 2024, AKF will continue to work with our nationwide Ambassador network to urge states to pass more laws that will encourage, rather than punish, living donors. Meanwhile, in Congress, the bipartisan Living Donor Protection Act, introduced last April in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate (H.R. 2923 and S. 1384), would provide baseline protections nationwide, ensuring that living organ donors have FMLA and anti-discrimination protections. Passage of this legislation would mean that the lowest Report Card grade any state could receive would be a C.
Text KIDNEY to 52886 or visit KidneyFund.org/act to get involved in legislative efforts in your state. Visit KidneyFund.org/ldpa to ask your members of Congress to support the federal Living Donor Protection Act
Donating a kidney is one of the most altruistic actions a person can do.
However, the prospect of being denied insurance or charged higher premiums in the future may deter someone from becoming a living organ donor.
Taking the step to become a living donor is much easier when you have guaranteed paid leave from work and protection from insurance discrimination.
Learn more about how we’re reviewing solutions for each state here.
are currently on the national transplant waiting list
are waiting for a kidney*
* as of January 25, 2024.
In 2023, there were 6,290 living donor kidney transplants out of 28,144 kidney transplants
That is nearly 1 in 4 transplants
In recent years, 35 states enacted legislation spearheaded by AKF to remove barriers and protect living donors. In 2023, five states enacted such legislation.
More than 27,000 AKF Ambassadors are working to advocate for living donor protections and other types of legislation at the state and federal levels to improve the lives of people with kidney disease.
*Where applicable, state regulations are also considered
