What if, after you donate a kidney, a friend or family member needs a kidney transplant but you can no longer donate a kidney to them because you have already donated? The Family Voucher Program solves this issue, letting you donate a kidney while also protecting your family members in the unlikely event one of them ever needs a kidney transplant.
FAQ: Donor Shield
Donor Shield provides living donors with comprehensive support and protections throughout the entire donation process. All donors who donate through the National Kidney Registry are eligible for Donor Shield.
If you are not a medical match for the person you want to donate a kidney to, you can donate through the Voucher Program to help them get a kidney. Even better, your donation will not only help your intended recipient get a kidney, it will help someone else facing kidney failure get a kidney as well, so you’ll be changing the lives of two people instead of just one.
If you donate through the National Kidney Registry’s remote donation network, you can complete the donation—from pre-donation testing through your donation surgery—at an NKR transplant center close to you. Your kidney is then shipped to the transplant center where the recipient is being transplanted, which could be in a different city or even across the country.
To ensure living donors do not have to suffer lost income as a result of their generous decision to donate a kidney, the National Kidney Registry’s Donor Shield program offers living donor financial assistance, including lost wage reimbursement up to a maximum of $2,000 per week for up to 12 weeks. Using Donor Shield for lost wage reimbursement means you do not have to use short-term disability or any of your vacation or sick time for your kidney donation—you can keep that time to use for your future personal needs.
Kidney donation should not cost the donor anything. The medical expenses associated with kidney donation are covered by the recipient’s insurance. Nonmedical costs incurred by the donor, such as lost wages, travel, and childcare, are covered by Donor Shield.