The Living Donor Protection Act (H.R. 4616/S.2584) is gaining momentum. On April 12th, 11 Representatives became co-sponsors of the bill. This legislation was introduced by Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Representative Michael Burgess, MD (R-TX) in the House of Representatives, and Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in the Senate.
The bill will remove barriers to living donation by prohibiting insurance companies from denying or limiting life, disability, and long term care insurance to living donors, as well as from charging higher premiums. The bill also clarifies that living organ donors may use time granted through the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to recover from donation.
The wait list for a kidney transplant is long and many individuals will die before ever receiving a kidney transplant. There are currently 100,269 people waiting for a kidney transplant. Living donors— individuals in good health who donate a kidney to someone—make a substantial contribution to increasing the number of transplants performed each year. In 2015, 17,878 kidney transplants were performed, 5,628 of which were made possible by living donors.
Please thank all of the sponsors of this important legislation by writing them, tweeting, or posting on their Facebook pages. Contact information for your elected officials can be located here: House/Senate.
Sample tweets you can use:
.@MoC/Senator Thank you for sponsoring the #LivingDonorProtectionAct & helping save lives – [Your first name, Your city]
Or
.@MoC/Senator Thank you for sponsoring the #LivingDonorProtectionAct & helping save lives of kidney disease patients– [Your first name, Your city]
| New Co-Sponsors |
| Rep. Sanford Bishop (DEM – GA) |
| Rep. Daniel Lipinski (DEM – IL) |
| Rep. Jared Polis (DEM – CO) |
| Rep. Peter King (REP – NY) |
| Del. Eleanor Norton (DEM – DC) |
| Rep. Alcee Hastings (DEM – FL) |
| Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (REP – WA) |
| Rep. Matt Cartwright (DEM – PA) |
| Rep. Brad Ashford (DEM – NE) |
| Rep. Bill Posey (REP – FL) |
| Rep. Loretta Sanchez (DEM – CA) |
###
Updated on May 3rd, 2016
We are pleased to update this blog with an additional 11 co-sponsors for the Living Donor Protection Act. Please continue to reach out to your Senators and Representatives to thank them if they have become a co-sponsor or ask them to become a co-sponsor. Sample material and a link to a letter for your elected officials can be found in the original post.
New co-sponsors added on April 29th.
- Rep. Clarke, Yvette D. [D-NY-9]
- Rep. Smith, Lamar [R-TX-21]
- Rep. Beatty, Joyce [D-OH-3]
- Rep. Brady, Robert A. [D-PA-1]
- Rep. Ryan, Tim [D-OH-13]
- Rep. Yarmuth, John A. [D-KY-3]
- Rep. Grijalva, Raul M. [D-AZ-3]
- Rep. Lofgren, Zoe [D-CA-19]
- Rep. Palazzo, Steven M. [R-MS-4]
- Rep. Blumenauer, Earl [D-OR-3]
- Rep. Lynch, Stephen F. [D-MA-8]
Updated on May 23rd, 2016
Update: Six new c0-sponsors have signed onto the Living Donor Protection Act. They are listed below. Please be sure to thank them and continue to request that your lawmakers sign on as well!
- Collins, Susan M. [R-ME]
- Murphy, Christopher S. [D-CT]
- Schumer, Charles E. [D-NY]
- Lieu, Ted [D-CA-33]
- McDermott, Jim [D-WA-7]
- Wenstrup, Brad R. [R-OH-2]
Updated on July 12th:
- Rep. Peters, Scott H. [D-CA-52]
- Rep. Himes, James A. [D-CT-4]
- Rep. Young, David [R-IA-3]
- Rep. McSally, Martha [R-AZ-2]
- Rep. DeSaulnier, Mark [D-CA-11]
- Rep. DelBene, Suzan K. [D-WA-1]
- Rep. Lujan Grisham, Michelle [D-NM-1]
- Rep. Castor, Kathy [D-FL-14]
- Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1]
- Rep. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA-28]
Advocacy in Action 
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Why are our Representatives from Kentucky not supporting this Bill??
Donating a kidney is a good wonderful act – giving someone life. A person shouldn’t be penalized because of it. Health and life insurance companies should be ashamed, the US government should be ashamed. Going thru dialysis is extremely difficult for a kidney patient and their families. No one should be penalized for their health and no one should be penalized for donating a kidney, for helping save a life.
I am a living donor and it’s good to know someone is trying to take care of us because we were taking care of someone else. Thank you!
Educating Minorities About Transplants (EMAT) on FaceBook supports The Living Donor Protection Act.
An human act with LOVE. We shall take good care of the donor not asking them to sacrifice more by doing an honorable fellowship act.
What great comments!
I’m waiting for a kidney and we need all the help we can get. I noticed no one from MI is backing this bill. Shame on you!!!
Those with kidney disease should not be “left behind” by making kidney donation as close to impossible as it currently is. And living kidney donors, who are nothing less than courageous and unselfish heroes, should not be punished for their generosity and kindness. Human lives are precious and quality of human life is equally precious. There is no excuse acceptable for the inhumanity of denying assistance for those in need to this degree.