Would you donate a kidney to a stranger in exchange for money?
That's the premise of a bill lawmakers introduced to Congress Monday called the End Kidney Deaths Act. Proponents of the bill say it will save lives and improve the nationwide shortage on organ donations.
If the law passes, people who donate a kidney to a stranger — not a family member — would get a refundable tax credit of $10,000 each year for five years, totaling $50,000.
Donated kidneys would go to those who have been waiting the longest on the kidney transplant waitlist. There are currently more than 90,000 people on that list, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.
Organizers estimate the bill would save 10,000 lives each year by creating an incentive for people to donate.
Money for the tax credits would come from the Federal Treasury Department. Supporters of the bill say the federal government spends about $50 billion each year for more than half a million Americans to receive dialysis therapy, making the tax credits a more cost-effective alternative in the long run.
"By the 10th year after the passage of the End Kidney Deaths Act, up to 100,000 Americans who were dying on the waitlist will instead have healthy kidneys, and taxpayers will have saved $10-$37 billion," proponents of the bill said.
Lawmakers hope to get the bill passed into law by the end of the year.
The End Kidney Deaths Act is a 10-year pilot program.
