AAKP is seeking Congressional support of a bill, the Organ Donor Clarification Act of 2008, to amend the National Organ Transplant Act to clarify law related to public incentives for organ donation. The bill is sponsored by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA). The 1984 Act prohibits financial incentives for organ donation.
 
The kidney transplant waiting list grows greater every year while the donor list decreases and this is despite public campaigns to raise awareness about the organ shortage and the expansion of the donor criteria. Currently, there are more than 99,000 people on the transplant waiting list according to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). The majority, 75,000, of those need a new kidney.

In a letters to all 100 U. S. Senators, AAKP President Roberta Wager, RN, MSN, states, "As the waiting list for organs grows ever longer, it is time to allow government controlled trials of financial incentives to help increase the number of organ donors. A financial incentive is not necessarily a cash payment: for example, a donor could receive something as simple as lifelong health insurance, or families could receive funeral benefits for the deceased donors." 
 
AAKP supports research studies on the effects of offering financial incentives for organ donation. To read AAKP's letter to Congressional leaders, visit the AAKP Web site.

This article originally appeared in the September 2008 issue of AAKP Public Policy Briefing.