AKF releases state Living Donor Protection Report Card

AKF released its first annual State of the States: Living Donor Protection Report Card, which grades how well laws in each U.S. state and the District of Columbia encourage living organ donation and reduce barriers for living organ donors. With a patchwork of laws in the states, protections for living organ donors are extremely inconsistent across the country. States that have very little to no protections for living donors—most of the states—make it harder for those on the transplant waiting list to access a kidney because of obstacles that may prevent living donors from choosing to give the gift of life. We have been working at the state and federal levels for years to change that.

The AKF Living Donor Protection Report Card assigns an A, B, C, D or F grade to all states and the District of Columbia by measuring whether the states have in place seven different categories of legislation, including: anti-discrimination laws for life, disability or long-term care insurance; job-protected leave from private employers; job-protected leave from public employers; tax credits for employers who provide paid leave; tax credits or tax deductions for donor expenses; paid leave via Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) laws; and extended leave (more than 60 days) via FMLA laws.

Read our Report Card blog post to learn more about this important project. Find out your state's grade, see how your state compares to others and let your members of Congress know you want them to cosponsor the federal Living Donor Protection Act of 2021 at livingdonor.KidneyFund.org.

New special enrollment period for health coverage through healthcare.gov

In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it has had on Americans' finances and health, the Biden administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently announced a new special enrollment period (SEP) for individuals and families to enroll in Affordable Care Act health coverage via healthcare.gov.

The SEP started February 15, 2021 and will continue through May 15, 2021. The SEP applies to the 36 states that use the federal healthcare.gov platform to operate their Health Insurance Marketplace. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia operate their own state-based Marketplace, and while they are not required to offer a similar SEP to their residents, many of them are expected to or have already announced that they will.

Separately, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, The Ensuring Coverage in Public Health Emergencies Act (H.R. 526), that would automatically trigger a special enrollment period any time there is a public health emergency declaration. AKF voiced our support for the legislation, along with several other patient and consumer organizations.

Read AKF's blog post for more information on the SEP announced by the administration.