The End Kidney Deaths Act: Summary
The End Kidney Deaths Act (H.R. 2687) proposes a ten-year pilot program providing a $50,000 federal tax credit, distributed in five annual installments of $10,000, to Americans who donate a kidney to a stranger. The proposal aims to increase living kidney donation, save up to 100,000 lives over ten years, and reduce federal healthcare spending.
Why America Needs This Act
More than 90,000 Americans are waiting for a kidney transplant, and approximately 25 people die every day while waiting or becoming too sick to receive one. More than 800,000 Americans are living with kidney failure, a number projected to exceed one million by 2030.
Medicare spends approximately $50 billion annually on treatment for kidney failure. In a peer-reviewed economic analysis, Philip Held, Frank McCormick, and colleagues estimated $403,000 in lifetime taxpayer savings per additional kidney transplant (approximately $570,000 in 2026 dollars) under a modeled donor-payment program.
Deceased donation alone cannot meet the need. Only a small fraction of deaths occur under circumstances permitting organ recovery. We must expand living kidney donation.
How the Act Works
Only about 500 Americans annually donate kidneys to strangers. These non-directed donors can initiate kidney transplant chains that save multiple lives. The longest documented chain involved 35 recipients.
The End Kidney Deaths Act would provide eligible donors with $10,000 annually for five years.
A peer-reviewed study by Frank McCormick, Philip Held, and colleagues estimated the financial and nonfinancial disincentives to living kidney donation at $37,745 (approximately $50,000 in 2026 dollars). These include lost income, travel, pain, health risks, and other burdens associated with donation.
Protecting Kidney Donors
Living kidney donors undergo extensive medical and psychological evaluations. Fewer than 15% of prospective donors in one published study completed the donation process.
Transplant teams assess physical health, informed consent, voluntariness, and emotional support. The End Kidney Deaths Act does not weaken these safeguards. It seeks to remove financial disincentives while maintaining rigorous donor protections.
Support for the Act
More than 45 organizations, along with transplant surgeons, economists, kidney donors, recipients, and patients, have supported the legislation.
A 2026 NORC survey found 57% support for the policy approach and 12% opposition. Read more about public and medical support.
Help End the Kidney Shortage
Every day, Americans die waiting for kidneys that could save their lives. The End Kidney Deaths Act proposes a way to increase donations, improve health outcomes, and reduce federal spending.