California congressman introduces bill that could provide financial incentive to kidney donors

STOCKTON – Every day, 12 people die waiting for a kidney donation. Living donations, where someone donates one of their kidneys, are more effective but aren't as common.

However, there is a proposal to change that with a financial incentive.

A failing kidney and dialysis are one thing. Then there's the wait to see if you'll even get a transplant.

"The survival for someone on the waitlist for a kidney transplant is worse than leukemia," said Dr. John Roberts of the University of California, San Francisco.

Roberts, a surgeon specializing in kidney transplants, said there are currently 125,000 people waiting for one.

"If you get a deceased donor transplant, the chances of you having that kidney is 11 years and if you get a living donor transplant, it's 18 years," Roberts said.

Central Valley Congressman Josh Harder says a fix could be financial . He's introduced a bill that would give living donors $50,000 in tax credits over five years.

"They have to take time off work. They have to go into surgery, which is a major surgery to take an organ out. There needs to be some sort of financial incentive," Harder said.

Harder said this incentive is different than flat-out paying someone for an organ donation—something that's illegal.

"I think we have to recognize we don't have enough organ donors across the U.S. Fewer than 5% of folks who donate a kidney are doing it to a stranger," Harder said.

If that incentive is what it takes to get more people to donate, Roberts says so be it.

"I understand it's a very controversial thing but I feel strongly we need to help people get transplants because they're just dying," Roberts said.

Harder also claims the bill would save billions in unnecessary health care treatments for people on the kidney transplant list. It's currently in committee and Harder is looking to gather bipartisan support.