Washington, DC (December 17, 2024) – A new measure making living organ donation more accessible is one major step closer to becoming law. Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Honor Our Living Donors or HOLD Act (H.R. 6020) via voice vote. The legislation is designed to reduce financial barriers for living organ donors, leading to more donations and better health outcomes for many patients awaiting kidney transplant.
More than 35 million Americans are living with kidney disease, and about 90,000 people are currently waiting for a kidney transplant—the preferred treatment for kidney failure. Living organ donation offers the best chance for successful transplants, but financial challenges often deter potential donors.
The HOLD Act proposes changes to the National Living Donor Assistance Center (NLDAC) program to address these concerns. By focusing financial assistance on the donor’s income rather than the recipient’s, the bill makes it easier for donors to recover travel expenses, childcare costs, and lost wages related to their donation.
“In this era of division, the HOLD Act has strong bipartisan support. That says something about the seriousness of the issues living donors face,” said Kevin Longino, CEO of the National Kidney Foundation and a kidney transplant recipient. “The HOLD Act will address some of those issues in a meaningful way and lessen the burden on those who want to give the gift of organ donation. Ultimately that will give more patients access to lifesaving transplantation and save lives. We applaud the bill’s sponsors Representative Jay Obernolte (R-CA) and Representative Suzan DelBene (D-WA) and urge swift passage by the Senate.”
The HOLD Act now moves to the Senate (S. 5504) for consideration where it is sponsored by Senator Ben Lujan (D-NM) and John Boozman (R-AR). The National Kidney Foundation is calling on lawmakers to act quickly to ensure more people can pursue living donation without financial concerns standing in the way.
For more information about kidney disease, organ donation, and the National Kidney Foundation’s advocacy efforts, visit www.kidney.org.
Additional Background on Honor Our Living Donors Act:
The HOLD Act would expand access to the National Living Donor Assistance Center (NLDAC), which provides reimbursement for living donors that incur expenses like travel, childcare, and lost wages related to their living donation. Currently, eligibility for this assistance is based on the recipient's income, not the donor's. The HOLD Act would change this by requiring financial aid to be determined solely by the donor's income level. This change could remove a significant barrier for many living donors who may struggle to ask their recipients for help with costs like travel, childcare, and lost wages from time off work.
About Kidney Disease
In the United States, more than 35 million adults are estimated to have kidney disease, also known as chronic kidney disease (CKD)-and approximately 90 percent don't know they have it. About 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. are at risk for kidney disease. Risk factors for kidney disease include diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and family history. People of Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian American, or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander descent are at increased risk for developing the disease. Black or African American people are about four times as likely as White people to have kidney failure. Hispanic people experience kidney failure at about double the rate of White people.
About National Kidney Foundation
The National Kidney Foundation is the largest patient-centric organization dedicated to the awareness, prevention, and treatment of kidney disease. It is revolutionizing the fight to save lives by eliminating preventable kidney disease, accelerating innovation for the dignity of the patient experience, and dismantling structural inequities in kidney care, dialysis, and transplantation. For more information about kidney disease, please visit www.kidney.org/.
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Media Contact:
Paul McGee
National Kidney Foundation
716.523.6874
paul.mcgee@kidney.org