Army – Baylor 2016
MAJ Matt Tillman
Health Policy Opinion Paper 1 – Financial incentives to motivate organ donation
Everyday 18 Americans die on organ transplant waiting lists, and of the 319 million
citizens of the United States only 120 million are registered organ donors (U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, 2014). While greater than 95% of Americans strongly support the
principle of organ donation, less than 41% of the eligible donors are registered to donate (Siegel,
Navarro, Tan, & Hyde, 2014). Organ donation saves lives, has no opportunity cost to donors,
and promotes community beneficence. Some argue that the sale of organs should not be
permitted as it degrades the nature of humanity and decreases a person’s status to that of property
to be bought and sold. However, these arguments only hold true for the sale of organs from
living donors. To entice organ donation, an individual should be permitted to sell the rights to his
organs following death in exchange for discounts on various forms of insurance.
Individuals who receive a deceased donor’s kidney survive for five years 82% of the
time. Those who receive a living donor’s kidney have an 83% chance of surviving for five years
(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014). Five years of additional life for a
mother, father, son, or daughter is afforded by those who have decided to donate their own
organs after death. Inversely, a patient diagnosed with acute renal failure without a new kidney
will die without the transplant. Organ donation saves lives and should be promoted with every
available method that is ethically acceptable.
The morbidity of kidney donors has been shown to be comparable to non-donor cohorts
(Johns Hopkins, 2014). Even if the survival rates of donors were lower, that statistic would have
no bearing on the use of deceased donor’s organs. Deceased donors will lose nothing from the
donation of their organs after their death. Instead, if individuals were allowed to receive even a
small financial gain from their willingness to donate their organs, it would be more beneficial to
Army – Baylor 2016
MAJ Matt Tillman
Health Policy Opinion Paper 1 – Financial incentives to motivate organ donation
the donor than the simple decomposition of those organs upon internment. There is no
opportunity cost to the deceased donor who is enticed to donate his organs after death through
insurance discounts received while living.
Many who argue against the use of financial incentives for organ donation cite the ethical
ramifications for the under privileged and moral concerns with “selling” humans or their
components. Neither of those arguments is valid in this case. The ethical decision is the same if
individuals receive a financial incentive for their willingness to donate after their deaths alone;
the organ is donated or is not, but only after death. If individuals were allowed to sell organs
while living, the arguments against financial incentives would be valid, but they are not
applicable here.
Over 6,500 individuals waiting on organ transplant lists die every year without the organ
they needed to survive (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014). Americans view
organ donation very positively, but most of the country fails to authorize their own posthumous
donation (Siegel, Navarro, Tan, & Hyde, 2014). Health policy in the U.S. should allow for
financial incentives to be used to incentivize organ donation upon death. The ethical concerns
associated with the sale of organs from living donors do not apply to this proposal because the
financial benefit would be experienced by the living person with the transaction for their organs
executed only upon death. There is no “cost” to this discussion but only “benefits”, and
individuals should be allowed to receive financial compensation through various insurance
discounts for their willingness to donate organs upon death and therefore save lives.
Army – Baylor 2016
MAJ Matt Tillman
Health Policy Opinion Paper 1 – Financial incentives to motivate organ donation
References
Johns Hopkins. (2014, December 3). Johns Hopkins Medicine. Retrieved from Comprehensive
Transplant Center: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/transplant/living_donors/expect.html
Siegel, J. T., Navarro, M. A., Tan, C. N., & Hyde, M. K. (2014). Attitude–Behavior Consistency,
the Principle of Compatibility, and Organ Donation: A Classic Innovation. Health
Psychology, 1084-1091.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2014, December 3). Donate the Gift of Life.
Retrieved from The Need is Real: Data: http://www.organdonor.gov/about/data.html