organ-donation

1. September 28, 2026News8 receipts7 min

   Starting September 30, living organ donors qualify for up to $6,000 in travel, lost-wage and caregiving reimbursement based on their own household income instead of the recipient's; HRSA's final guidelines open all three income tiers at the start of each budget period, up to 750 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, and name no priority category for donors above that line.

   Starting September 30, 2026, the federal program that repays living organ donors for travel, lost wages and child and elder care will judge eligibility by the donor's own household income instead of the organ recipient's. The Health Resources and Services Administration's final guidelines, filed for public inspection September 28 and scheduled for publication September 29, carry out the Honor Our Living Donors Act, enacted February 3. Priority Category 1 covers donors at or below 350 percent of the HHS poverty guidelines; Category 2, up to 500 percent ($165,000 for a household of four in the 48 states and D.C.); Category 3, a financial hardship waiver, up to 750 percent ($247,500). After 44 public comments, HRSA dropped its plan to open Category 2 only partway through the funding period: all three open at the start of each budget period, and Categories 2 and 3 can close if money runs short. The limit stays $6,000 per organ, as it has been since 2007. Under the 2020 rules a donor of any income could qualify if the recipient's income was low enough; no new category reaches above 750 percent. Applications go through transplant centers; costs incurred before approval are not reimbursed.

   Also filed underhrsaliving-donorstransplantshealth-policyfederal-register

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