NY provides up to $10,000 for expenses in donating organs
Flag-raising ceremony in honor of all organ donors at a Shoreham Wading River High School football game. April 5, 2024 Credit: Rick Kopstein
ALBANY — A little-noticed but lifesaving provision in the state budget passed earlier this month will provide a tax credit worth up to $10,000 to help defray the costs of New Yorkers who donate some of the most needed organs in hope of saving or prolonging others’ lives.
The measure is intended to improve the chances of New Yorkers receiving transplants of all or part of livers, pancreases, kidneys, intestines, lungs and bone marrow.
Currently, nearly 8,000 New Yorkers are in need of transplants.
The tax credit applies to donors and the families of donors for expenses incurred when relatives donate organs after death, according to the legislation adopted in the state budget.
The tax credit can be applied for travel, lodging and lost wages, according to state budget records.
New Yorkers who are full-year residents this year are eligible to begin claiming the tax credit on their tax returns for the 2025 fiscal year, which for most people will be next year before April 15. The tax credit will continue in coming years.
"Provisions like the one included in this year’s state budget are critical to ease the burden on living donors and save the lives of New Yorkers," said Aisha Tator, executive director of Donate Life New York State. The group is a nonprofit coalition of organ and tissue recovery organizations, health care leaders and donors and recipients of transplants.
"But we cannot stop here," Tator said in a written statement to Newsday. Four hundred New Yorkers die each year due to the lack of transplanted organs, she said.
The measure replaces a similar tax credit adopted three years ago. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal for this year’s budget described the new measure as a "far more generous tax credit, fully mitigating up to $10,000 in unreimbursed expenses associated with these critical donations."
The measure provides the tax credit when one or more transplants are made. A donor may claim the credit only once in each tax year, the bill states.
A related measure may also soon become law.
The Helping Equal Access to Registrations for Transplants Act, or HEART Act, was approved by the Assembly May 5 and could soon be scheduled for the necessary final vote by the Senate. The legislative session is scheduled to end June 17.
The measure would allow prospective donors to register at several transplant centers in the state. Currently, many donors can only register with one transplant center at a time in the state,
The goal of the measure, which had bipartisan support, is to increase access to organs and "reduce disparities in health care access for transplant candidates statewide," according to the bill.
The current restriction was adopted in 1990. But in practice it has disadvantaged lower income patients in need of organs who are covered by the government’s Medicaid health care coverage or New Yorkers who are under insured. New Yorkers with private insurance can circumvent the current restriction and register with several transplant centers at once.
"It’s imperative that we continue to pass common sense legislation, like the Helping Equal Access to Registrations for Transplants Act, to keep making progress toward achieving our mission of ensuring a life-changing transplant for every New Yorker in need," Tator said.
The federal Health Resources and Services Administration also offers compensation for expenses in donating organs, but a New Yorker can’t be reimbursed for the same expense more than once.
The federal program reimburses qualified expenses to the living donor for medical evaluations, surgeries, follow-up visits, travel and lost wages, child and elder care and some other expenses related to the donation
ALBANY — A little-noticed but lifesaving provision in the state budget passed earlier this month will provide a tax credit worth up to $10,000 to help defray the costs of New Yorkers who donate some of the most needed organs in hope of saving or prolonging others’ lives.
The measure is intended to improve the chances of New Yorkers receiving transplants of all or part of livers, pancreases, kidneys, intestines, lungs and bone marrow.
Currently, nearly 8,000 New Yorkers are in need of transplants.
The tax credit applies to donors and the families of donors for expenses incurred when relatives donate organs after death, according to the legislation adopted in the state budget.
The tax credit can be applied for travel, lodging and lost wages, according to state budget records.
New Yorkers who are full-year residents this year are eligible to begin claiming the tax credit on their tax returns for the 2025 fiscal year, which for most people will be next year before April 15. The tax credit will continue in coming years.
"Provisions like the one included in this year’s state budget are critical to ease the burden on living donors and save the lives of New Yorkers," said Aisha Tator, executive director of Donate Life New York State. The group is a nonprofit coalition of organ and tissue recovery organizations, health care leaders and donors and recipients of transplants.
"But we cannot stop here," Tator said in a written statement to Newsday. Four hundred New Yorkers die each year due to the lack of transplanted organs, she said.
The measure replaces a similar tax credit adopted three years ago. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal for this year’s budget described the new measure as a "far more generous tax credit, fully mitigating up to $10,000 in unreimbursed expenses associated with these critical donations."
The measure provides the tax credit when one or more transplants are made. A donor may claim the credit only once in each tax year, the bill states.
A related measure may also soon become law.
The Helping Equal Access to Registrations for Transplants Act, or HEART Act, was approved by the Assembly May 5 and could soon be scheduled for the necessary final vote by the Senate. The legislative session is scheduled to end June 17.
The measure would allow prospective donors to register at several transplant centers in the state. Currently, many donors can only register with one transplant center at a time in the state,
The goal of the measure, which had bipartisan support, is to increase access to organs and "reduce disparities in health care access for transplant candidates statewide," according to the bill.
The current restriction was adopted in 1990. But in practice it has disadvantaged lower income patients in need of organs who are covered by the government’s Medicaid health care coverage or New Yorkers who are under insured. New Yorkers with private insurance can circumvent the current restriction and register with several transplant centers at once.
"It’s imperative that we continue to pass common sense legislation, like the Helping Equal Access to Registrations for Transplants Act, to keep making progress toward achieving our mission of ensuring a life-changing transplant for every New Yorker in need," Tator said.
The federal Health Resources and Services Administration also offers compensation for expenses in donating organs, but a New Yorker can’t be reimbursed for the same expense more than once.
The federal program reimburses qualified expenses to the living donor for medical evaluations, surgeries, follow-up visits, travel and lost wages, child and elder care and some other expenses related to the donation
Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.
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