Nick Mangold, the revered former center for the New York Jets and a member of its Ring of Honor, recently died from kidney disease. He is not alone: Almost a million people have end-stage renal disease in the United States, and 500,000 are currently on dialysis. However, efforts to help these people have been stymied by bureaucratic intransigence both in New York and Washington D.C.
Many people afflicted with kidney disease have a genetic predisposition to the disease, as did Mangold. African Americans in particular are much more likely to become afflicted with kidney disease because of this.
The only “cure” for someone with kidney disease is to receive a new kidney, but the U.S. is woefully short of kidneys. About 40,000 people die of kidney disease each year, and most of those who pass away could survive if a kidney had been available. There are not nearly enough kidneys from deceased donors for everyone who needs a kidney, and the number of living donors has remained stagnant.
In the last few years there have been efforts to boost kidney donations from living donors, primarily by programs that would help defray the costs incurred by living donors when they go through the donation process.
Donating a kidney can be a costly affair even without the medical costs: A potential donor has to make multiple visits to the hospital before the procedure and spend the night before in a hotel near the hospital. Nephrologists advise kidney donors to take at least one week off of work after the procedure–more if they have a strenuous occupation–and avoid heavy lifting, which can make childcare or elder care difficult.
New York State has been at the forefront of encouraging kidney donations: In 2022, it passed a lawthat would reimburse living kidney donors for expenses incurred during the transplant process, such as travel, lodging, and lost wages.
Covering the expenses of a living kidney donor is virtually a free lunch: Not only does it increase donations and save the lives of people with kidney disease–I am the author of one such studyshowing the efficacy of such programs–but the government also saves money when someone who would otherwise go on dialysis receives a kidney, so the program more than pays for itself.
However, enacting such programs have proven to be difficult. For instance, it took nearly three yearsfor New York bureaucrats to create the regulatory framework for donors to get reimbursed.
In 2019 President Trump issued an executive order for the federal government to reimburse kidney donors, but the agency tasked with issuing those regulations imposed a stringent income threshold that greatly reduced the number of potential donors who could take advantage of the program. It also took steps to sharply limit the reimbursement limits for donors.
And in Congress, Rep. Jerry Nadler–another New Yorker–has sponsored the Living Donor Protection Act, which gives insurance protection to living donors, among other things.
Donald Trump, Governor Hochul, and the New York Legislature–which passed the bill unanimously–should be congratulated for diagnosing and addressing a serious problem that kills too many people every year. But much more needs to be done: Most importantly, Congress needs to pass legislation at the federal level that promises to cover all legitimate expenses for any person who donates a kidney, without exception.
Donating a kidney is a safe procedure and does not affect long-term health of a donor. Increasing kidney donations would potentially save thousands of lives of people like Nick Mangold, as well as save billions of dollars of taxpayer money each year. It is too important to let bureaucrats get in the way.