A new bill has been introduced in the New York State Senate by an area lawmaker that would provide lifetime healthcare through the state’s insurance exchange to anyone who donates a kidney. North Rockland state senator James Skoufis says the costs of keeping people alive while they wait for kidney donations is already quite expensive…
Nanuet’s Roxanne Watson, a heart transplant recipient and donor registration advocate, agrees the benefits outweigh the costs…
Senator Skoufis says the program will get money through a newly-authorized Kidney Donor Insurance Fund to be set up during the budget process. More than 8,000 people in New York are waiting for a kidney transplant and only 347 people have served as live kidney donors this year so far. The bill is currently in the Senate’s health committee.