Donating a kidney is one of the most altruistic actions a person can take, and being a living organ donor is much easier when laws are in place to protect you, such as guaranteed paid leave from work to recover from surgery and protection from discrimination by life, disability and long-term care insurers. AKF has been leading efforts at the state and federal levels to secure these protections through legislation, and thanks to our groundbreaking Report Card, significant progress has been made in the states. The recent passage of legislation in Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio and Virginia has moved the national grade average from a D to a C. But with more than 106,000 people waiting for an organ transplant—including nearly 92,000 who are waiting for a kidney—it is clear that much more needs to be done. Until federal legislation is enacted to give baseline protections to living donors nationwide, states are operating with a patchwork of living donor protection laws.
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
are currently on the national transplant waiting list
are waiting for a kidney*
* as of March 15, 2022
In 2021, there were 5,971 living organ donations out of 25,490 kidney transplants
That is about 1 in 5 transplants
In recent years, 28 states enacted legislation spearheaded by AKF to remove barriers and protect living donors
| Number of states | |
|---|---|
| Protection from life, disability or long-term care insurance discrimination | 28 |
| Job-protected leave from private employers | 12 |
| Job-protected leave from public employers | 37 |
| Tax credits for employers who provide paid leave | 5 |
| Direct reimbursements, tax credits or tax deductions for donor expenses | 21 |
| Paid leave via Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) laws | 2 |
| More than 60 days of leave via FMLA laws | 2 |
