A research team at Harvard found people without healthcare insurance are approximately 20 times more likely to donate a kidney or liver than to receive an organ. The results of the study appear in the latest issue of the International Journal of Health Services.
 
The study found 16.9 percent of organ donors had no health insurance at the time of hospitalization, while only 0.8 percent of transplant recipients were uninsured. The reason for such a vast difference may be because donors also tend to be younger adults, who go without coverage at higher rates than older people. Many medical centers will not consider an individual a transplant candidate if they do not have financial resources or insurance.

This article originally appeared in the December 2008 issue of Kidney Transplant Today.