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To the Editor:
Many living organ donors today experience higher premiums or denial of insurance coverage based solely on their status as a donor. But hopefully not for long.
In late February, the Living Donor Protection Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate and in the House of Representatives.
This bill will protect living organ donors by prohibiting insurance companies from denying or limiting life, disability and long term care insurance to living donors, and from charging higher premiums.
The bill also clarifies that living organ donors may use time granted through the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to recover from donation.
This is significant to me because I am a kidney patient and looking for a donor.
Because of the lack of job security and not knowing the cost repercussions post donation, people have been scared to get tested, which in turn, affects kidney patients, mentally, physically and economically.
There are over 100,000 people waiting to receive a kidney transplant.
In 2015, 17,878 kidney transplants were performed and 5,628 were from living donors.
I would like to thank Senator Chris Murphy for co-sponsoring this legislation and hope that Senator Richard Blumenthal and Representative Jim Himes will join him in sponsoring this act.
Sincerely, Ivey Dennen, Greenwich resident
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