Would you donate a kidney to a stranger for money?
That’s the premise of a bill lawmakers introduced to Congress on Monday called the End Kidney Deaths Act. Supporters of the bill say it will save lives and alleviate the nationwide shortage of organ donations.
If the bill passes, people who donate a kidney to a stranger – rather than a family member – would receive a refundable tax credit of $10,000 annually for five years, for a total of $50,000.
Donated kidneys would go to those who have been on the waiting list for a kidney transplant the longest. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, there are currently more than 90,000 people on that list.
Organizers estimate the law could save 10,000 lives each year by creating an incentive for people to donate.
The money for the tax credits would come from the U.S. Treasury Department. Proponents of the bill say the federal government spends about $50 billion each year to provide dialysis treatments to more than half a million Americans, so the tax credits are a more cost-effective alternative in the long run.
“In the tenth year after passage of the End Kidney Deaths Act, up to 100,000 Americans who died on the waiting list will have healthy kidneys and taxpayers will save $10 billion to $37 billion,” supporters of the law said.
Lawmakers hope to pass the bill by the end of the year.
The End Kidney Deaths Act is a 10-year pilot program.
