Kidney disease and kidney failure threaten the lives of millions of Americans. Every 10 minutes, someone is added to the nationwide organ transplant list, and every day an average of 12 people pass away while waiting for a kidney. 

In recognition of the significant barriers to life-saving organ transplants, Donate Life America declared April National Donate Life Month to bring awareness to this issue and help break those barriers. Learn more about what this means for chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients and kidney donation, including how to get involved this month.*

What are the barriers to organ transplants?

The average waiting time for a kidney from a deceased donor is three to five years. Once a kidney becomes available, a host of new questions arise, such as:

• Who on the waiting list has the greatest need?
• Where is the nearest transplant center?
• Is the organ a good match for a given potential recipient?
• Is a given person on the list still a viable potential recipient, or have new complications arisen?

Many people who are eligible to become living donors are unaware of both the need and the opportunities for organ donation. Those who are aware, and willing, face barriers regarding insurance coverage, higher premiums, and job security. 

Progress for kidney transplantation

In 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor included job protections through the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for Americans interested in becoming living organ donors. Last December, Congress passed the Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act of 2020 (H.R.5534). The law “indefinitely extends Medicare coverage of immunosuppressive drugs for kidney transplant recipients who do not have other coverage.”

More recently, Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Tom Cotton (R-AR) re-introduced the Living Donor Protection Act of 2019 (H.R. 1255 & S. 377). This bill would help patients in kidney failure by preventing life, disability, and long-term care insurance companies from denying and limiting coverage and charging higher premiums for living organ donors.

What can I do to help?

If you want to get involved in National Donate Life Month, there are several steps you can take.

• Get educated and educate others about the profound gift of living donation.
• Register as an organ, eye, and tissue donor.
• Make a monetary contribution to a nonprofit organization that promotes kidney health.
• Contact Congress to support the Living Donor Protection Act.
• Use and distribute the fact sheets, social media images, web banners, and promo items to raise awareness about National Donate Life Month.

These actions can help save the lives—and the quality of life—of kidney patients across the nation.

More information can be found in a press release by the American Association of Kidney Patients, as well as on the American Kidney Fund and Donate Life websites.

*Donate Life America. (n.d.). National Donate Life Month. https://www.donatelife.net/ndlm/