The National Kidney Registry (NKR) announced today the expansion of its Donor Shield program, increasing the maximum allowable travel and lodging reimbursement from $2,000 to $3,000 per donor. The reimbursement covers travel and lodging expenses related to kidney donation for the donor and a caregiver. Any donor who donates on or after July 6, 2021, is eligible for the increased travel and lodging reimbursement under the Donor Shield program.
“The NKR’s pioneering Donor Shield program was the first in the country to reimburse wages lost by living kidney donors due to the process of living kidney donation. The announced increase in the amount of travel and lodging reimbursement that will be provided by the Donor Shield is a welcome additional step toward reducing financial disincentives to living kidney donation,” said Didier Mandelbrot, Medical Director of Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation at University of Wisconsin, Madison and the author of research, linked here, on wage, travel, and lodging reimbursement.
Donor Shield protects and supports approximately 25% of all living kidney donors in the United States. Donor Shield eliminates disincentives to living donation and includes lost wage reimbursement; travel & lodging reimbursement; donation life insurance; donation disability insurance; legal support; financial coverage for medical costs due to uncovered complications; travel, lodging and wage reimbursement for uncovered complications; and fair access to life insurance.
About Donor Shield
Donor Shield (www.donor-shield.org) is the only comprehensive program in the world supporting and protecting living kidney donors. Donor Shield is backed by the National Kidney Registry, which is the largest paired exchange program in the world. All donors that participate in a National Kidney Registry swap or donate at a Donor Shield Direct Center are automatically enrolled in the Donor Shield program.
About the National Kidney Registry
The National Kidney Registry (www.kidneyregistry.org) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to save and improve the lives of people facing kidney failure by increasing the quality, speed, and number of living donor transplants while protecting all living donors.