Organ donors in New York can now get their costs paid by the state, thanks to a first-in-the-nation program that could save dozens of lives a year.

Last Thursday, the state health department announced that it is launching the Living Donor Support Program, which will reimburse organ donors up to $14,000 for their medical expenses and recovery-related costs, such as lost wages and childcare. Both the donor and recipient must be New Yorkers.

New York Focus has covered the effort to launch the program, and the health department’s repeated delays in implementing it, since 2021.

New York has one of the longest organ waitlists in the country, and hundreds of New Yorkers die waiting for an organ donation each year. This new program could significantly reduce that toll.

The health department estimates that as many as 500 New Yorkers a year will use the program. Most are likely to be kidney donors, since kidneys are by far the most commonly donated organ.

New York is the first state to pass such a law. A few countries have similar programs, which have significantly boosted donation rates. Based on those results, supporters estimate the New York bill could save about 100 lives a year.

“New York is a model for the nation, and hopefully other states will follow in our footsteps,” said Elaine Perlman, the executive director of Waitlist Zero, an organization that promotes kidney donation.

“So many people step away from the process because they simply can’t afford it,” said Perlman, who donated a kidney herself and advises people considering donating theirs. “It’s just thrilling to know that lives will be saved.”

Last week’s news is the culmination of a decade of effort from a small cadre of determined organ donation supporters.

The effort to pass the law began in 2016, said Josh Morrison, the co-founder of Waitlist Zero and a kidney donor. Advocates began meeting with lawmakers that year, and a bill to create the program was introduced in 2017.

It gathered a large number of supporters in the legislature, but like most bills in Albany, it didn’t advance to a vote. It seemed destined for the graveyard.

“After 2018, I did not think it was going to pass,” Morrison said.

But an advocacy blitz in 2021 and 2022 led by Perlman produced renewed momentum, and the bill passed both houses of the legislature unanimously in May 2022.

Governor Kathy Hochul signed it into law in December 2022, and it was supposed to take effect in mid-2023. But the health department failed to implement it on time, citing funding issues and staff shortages.

This February, following reporting from New York Focus on the ongoing delays, Department of Health Commissioner James McDonald told lawmakers that the program would start by the end of 2025. It was the first time the department had committed to a timeline.

Draft rules for the program were published in May, and the program finally went into effect last week.

“Sometimes you get to pass a law and there are real flesh-and-blood lives that get saved that you can point to. This was one of them,” said former Assemblymember Richard Gottfried, who sponsored the bill when it passed in 2022. “I’m delighted Commissioner McDonald and Gov. Hochul got it up and running so quickly.”

Morrison took a more critical view. “It’s great that it’s finally happening, but it shouldn’t really be acceptable that this law took this long,” he said.

People who have donated organs since the date the law was supposed to take effect — April 1, 2023 — will also be eligible for the reimbursement, if they apply within the next three months.

The Department of Health will promote the program with advertising and social media campaigns and by working with transplant centers around the state, according to spokesperson Erin Clary.

“Under Governor Hochul’s leadership, the State Health Department’s multifaceted living donor support program will establish New York as a nationwide leader in this lifesaving work,” Clary said.

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This story originally appeared in New York Focus, a non-profit news publication investigating how power works in New York state. Sign up for their newsletter at https://tinyurl.com/368trn9p