What if I Need Childcare or Dependent Adult Care During My Kidney Donation?

Kidney donation is a wonderfully generous act, but it does require time commitments including testing and workups as well as the donation surgery and recovery.

If you are the primary caregiver for a child or a dependent adult, becoming a kidney donor could require you to arrange and pay for alternate care for those dependents, which can be expensive.

Fortunately, the National Kidney Registry (NKR) now offers reimbursement for childcare and dependent care costs for living kidney donors through the Donor Shield program. This new protection will ensure that donors who are caregivers for others will not have to pay for dependent care costs incurred as a result of the donation process.

Kidney donors who donate through the NKR are eligible for reimbursement for the cost of dependent care (for children or adult dependents of the donor) when the donor is away from home during the donation process and when they are home recovering after the donation surgery. The NKR will cover up to $6,000 for combined travel, lodging, meal and dependent care costs for each eligible donor.

Covered dependent-care expenses include child or adult day care, before- and after-school care, in-home care and summer day camp. Receipts are required for dependent care provided by a care facility. If care is provided through an individual and a receipt for services cannot be produced, the donor will be asked to sign an affidavit as part of the reimbursement process.