Bill Proposed To Assist Live Organ Donors

By Marcela Rojas

The Journal News

March 7, 2004

Rose Anne Mallon did not hesitate for one moment when it came time to donate 60 percent of her liver to her ailing mother.

"Anything to help her," she said. "That's a no-brainer."

But while the transplant operation did not cause her much worry, the more than $5,000 in out-of-pocket expenses she incurred as a result of the surgery was what finally gave her pause.

Following a successful procedure on Jan. 7 at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, Mallon, and her mother, Theresa Mallon, of Mahopac, stayed in a hospital residence across the street from its emergency room, she said.

The $150-a-night room tab came to $4,275 following their 28-day stay. While Mallon, a pediatric nurse at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital who lives in the city, was able to collect disability for her seven-week absence, she estimates having also lost roughly $1,200 in wages.

"A surgeon suggested I return to work at the end of March," said Mallon, 41, who reported back to work March 1. "But I can't. Rent is not cheap in New York."

Fortunately for Mallon, $5,000 is not going to put her in serious debt, she said. But to other potential live organ donors, the financial burden could be enough to make them decide against becoming one.

For this reason, state Assemblywoman Sandra Galef, D-Ossining, has introduced a bill in the Assembly that would provide up to a $10,000 state tax deduction for those unreimbursed costs donors are left with, including transportation, lodging and income lost while recovering from the surgery.

"Giving organs to another is the most beautiful gift that one can make," said Galef. "Donors should not have to incur financial hardship for their decision to save lives. If there is a stumbling block to saving lives, then we should find a way to help."

Galef's bill, which is currently awaiting a Senate sponsor, is based on the same legislation introduced by Wisconsin state Representative Steve Wieckert R-Appleton.

Wieckert was the author of the bill that was approved and signed into law by Gov. Jim Doyle in late January.

"I worked on this bill for a couple of years. We were inventing the wheel here," said Wieckert on becoming the first state in the nation to offer the tax deduction. "These people are noble enough and courageous enough to donate; they shouldn't have to pay out-of-pocket for their good deeds. New York has such a big population. The more states that do it, the more lives will be saved."

New Mexico, Florida and Indiana are among the other states looking into adopting similar legislation, Wieckert said. In New York, state Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo, Grand Island, introduced basically the same donor bill -- with slightly different wording -- as Galef's and on the same day.

In his version, Hoyt said the total fiscal impact of the tax deduction on the state would be $500,000 annually, a figure based on approximately 500 live organ donations. Galef said she plans to discuss perhaps merging the two bills with Hoyt, but at this point, it is important to get the word out and as many people involved as possible.

Along with helping donors with their additional expenses, Galef said the tax incentive is also meant to encourage more people to participate in organ donation programs.

According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, an organization that facilitates every organ transplant in the nation, 470 New Yorkers were live organ donors last year for the period covering Jan. 1 to Nov. 30. In 2002, there were 535 live organ donors in the state, 597 in 2001 and 510 in 2000.

"In 2003, live organ donation reached a four-year low in the state," said Galef. "Financial assistance just may matter. We won't know until we try."

Presently, there are 7,926 people in the state awaiting an organ transplant, with 5,030 awaiting a kidney and 2,143 in search of a liver, said Anne Paschke, a spokeswoman for the United Network for Organ Sharing.

The organization estimates more than 3,000 of them have been waiting three or more years for a transplant.

Ossining resident David Kornreich has been on the waiting list for a kidney for more than a year, he said. The insurance broker, who was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease in 1976, began dialysis in April 2002.

His treatments require him to go to the Hudson Valley Dialysis Center in Tarrytown three times a week for four hours each visit. Dialysis, he said, is very restrictive and a burden to his physical and mental health. Kornreich prefers a transplant but knows that he is nowhere near the top of the waiting list, he said.

"Waiting lists are quite long in the New York area — about five to seven years," said Kornreich.

The 69-year-old said he is hopeful that Galef's bill will pass so that his chances and those of others anxiously awaiting a kidney are within reach.

"Anything that encourages increasing the donor pool could be such a great help," said Kornreich. "If one person decided to donate because finances were in place, then that's another person that gets taken off the list."

Creating an incentive to augment organ donation calls into question the moral principles behind it.

The Hastings Center, a bioethical think tank in Garrison, does not find Galef's proposed bill ethically troubling, officials said.

"This bill is trying to increase donors by making transplantation more reasonable. It makes sense that a donor needs to be provided for," said Eric Trump, associate editor of The Hastings Center Report. "You are not making money off the organ. This is not a way to get out of debt."

In January 2003, Briarcliff Manor resident Rudy Masry underwent a kidney transplant at Westchester Medical Center. He received his wife Ally's left kidney with great success.

Fortunately, the couple did not suffer any financial hardship from the procedure, he said. Prior to the surgery, Masry said he obtained private insurance on top of his Medicare.

While it costs them $1,000 a month, the additional expense is worth it, he said.

"The other insurance I had would have required me to go to Pennsylvania for the surgery. I would have had to pay for a place to stay after the surgery, transportation," said Masry, 64. "The expenses could be staggering if you don't have private insurance."

The Masrys, who belong to the Transplant Support Organization in Westchester, both said they have met people that would benefit from the proposed $10,000 state tax reimbursement.

"The first thing people ask is 'How much is this going to cost me?'" said Ally Masry, 63. "A lot of people are worried about the money involved. I think a lot more would be donors if they could get financial assistance."

Jeff Graham, president of the support group that meets once a month at the Mount Pleasant Community Center in Valhalla, said that about 35 people, either transplant patients or interested donors from the area, attend the meetings.

"There are too many people that die needlessly every year," said Graham. "Every living donor is a hero. Anything that can be given back to them is a blessing."

Send e-mail to Marcela Rojas .

This article posted March 16, 2004.

Bill Proposed To Assist Live Organ Donors

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