DATE: May 10, 2023

Washington, DC (May 10, 2023) The Kidney Transplant Collaborative (KTC) today announced that the results from a recent economic impact study about the Living Kidney Donor Support Act indicate the legislation will triple the number of living donors and will save Medicare $16 billion over ten years once fully operational. The impact study, entitled “The Economic and Budgetary Impact of the Living Kidney Donor Support Act” was conducted by Ike Brannon, PhD, a well-regarded economist and frequent writer on kidney transplant issues. It can be found on the KTC website here.  

With approximately 93,000 Americans currently on the waitlist for a kidney transplant, KTC remains focused on introducing the Living Kidney Donor Support Act in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives this year. The legislation, which aims to increase the number of kidney donations from living donors, would establish a national living kidney donor program, promote education around living kidney donations and support donors by fully reimbursing expenses from the donation process.

Brannon’s research estimates that enacting the Living Kidney Donor Support Act would triple the rate of living donors, from the current 6,000 to 17,000 a year. The legislation would also have a positive long-term impact on the federal government’s Medicare spending, saving $16 billion once the program is fully operational.

“Dr. Brannon’s study underscores the positive impact the Living Kidney Donor Support Act would have on increasing living kidney donations and reducing healthcare costs nationwide,” said Thomas G. Peters, MD, FACS, and Chair of the Kidney Transplant Collaborative Expert Advisory Panel. “Too many lives are being lost in the absence of a concentrated, national effort to improve the living kidney donation rate. Through the Living Kidney Donor Support Act, we aim to make direct, lasting changes to save more lives through living kidney donation.”

To learn more about the Kidney Transplant Collaborative and the Living Kidney Donor Support Act, visit https://kidneytransplantcollaborative.com.

###

The Kidney Transplant Collaborative (KTC) is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing kidney transplants and decreasing financial obstacles and other problems kidney patients, donors, and their families experience with the kidney transplant process. For more details, visit the KTC website at www.kidneytransplantcollaborative.com