People who have selflessly donated an organ to friend, family member, or even a stranger say it is the most important decision they have ever made. These donors, alive at the time of donation, are called living donors, and are often relied upon to donate kidneys, the lobe of a lung, partial liver, pancreas or intestine.
It is illegal to buy and sell organs, so consensual organ donation is imperative to save lives. According to Donate Life America, more than 100,000 men, women and children are currently waiting for life-saving organ transplants, and a new name is added to the national waiting list every 10 minutes. Sadly, about 18 people die each day waiting for an available transplant.
Those who decide to become living donors should not expect a shortened lifespan by having a partial liver or one kidney; on the contrary, those who have donated one of their kidneys can actually outlive the average person—if they maintain a healthy lifestyle.
What’s more, some individual health insurance companies lists kidney donation as a pre-existing medical condition. Donating a kidney to save a life may drop a person’s health insurance status from premium to standard, so long as their health is in perfect condition and there are no issues with the remaining kidney after surgery. This means that some insurers consider organ donation a pre-existing condition, which will indeed raise premiums.
According to the National Kidney Foundation, there are indeed instances where living donors are faced with higher insurance premiums or a pre-existing waiting period. However, the Foundation does not know how common a problem this is, and recommends people consult their insurance company to determine if coverage will be affected.
But this may not be the case with all individual health insurance.
