Short term disability insurance

[Karen_B]

Hi all! Did anyone who has donated have short term disability insurance, and if so did it cover you to be off work after you donated? I just found out yesterday that I am a DNA match for my recipient. Today I found out that my short term disability insurance will not cover me after I donate. I am so frustrated!

[Michaelynn]

My short term disability did not cover this "elective" surgery. We fund raised to cover my paycheck and benefits while I was out for 6 weeks.

We raised more than we needed for my expenses, so we were able to cover some out of pocket expenses for my recipient! He had to have expressive dental work in order to be cleared For surgery, and we were able to cover that. People were more than willing to donate to our cause. We put out an appeal to the community on facebooks and newspapers and many of our friends and family as well as anononmous donors pitched in. It was really heart warming for BIll, my recipient, and me to have such an outpouring of support. You will find that you will easily get what you need , but you must first be willing to ask!

[marcyc NKF Ambassador NKF Peer Mentor in reply to Michaelynn]

My employer also had an optional benefit called Critical Illness Insurance. I signed up for it knowing I would be a donor and my husband, also on my plan would be the recipient. It was a great benefit, cost about $30/month, paid us $10,000 cash when we had the surgery. I don't think this is a benefit many employers offer.

[marcyc NKF Ambassador NKF Peer Mentor]

Thank you for being willing to donate. I was fortunate that my employer was extremely support tic and paid me while I was off. Best of luck.

[SoniaBrummer]

That is wonderful news! There will be more tests beyond DNA to confirm if you are a match. Best of luck with that, we are rooting for you!

I think benefits like short term disability will vary by employers/states. I'm not sure. If your company is not a small company, you will qualify for FMLA which protects you from losing your job. Based on things I've heard from other people, their short term disability was used for this surgery (they had to use a certain number of PTO days first) and they get a % of their pay, based on how long they've worked for the company. Pretty standard. I'm surprised your employer has declined short term for this surgery!!! That is heartless if you ask me.

I don't know all the details of your situation, but if it is possible to give them the benefit of the doubt, do it. Approach them again to make sure they truly understand your request. Escalate in HR if needed. Talk to your manager and their boss too. Approach them with patience and kill em with kindness. This is a battle worth fighting, but not with a war-like mentality, if you know what I mean.

I was extremely lucky and the CEO of the company at the time of my surgery knew a lot about the transplant experience. His wife had received a kidney and pancreas. He had the company pay my full wages while I was away. I'm forever grateful.

If you do lose wages, spend your own money on transit, lodging, and/or anything else for surgery, work carefully through your tax return. There are tax benefits available to those who donate! (are you in the US?) Read those rules carefully. Turbotax prompts you with all the right questions.

[Kdonor]

I didn't have it but I was told if I did they wouldn't cover because it's your choice to have the surgery. But my recipient started a fundraiser through National Foundation for Transplants, what they raised more than enough covered my expenses, there's a list of things they cover, as long as the funds are there they pay what you would've earned (based on your last paychecks), medicines, and some transportation expenses. If more money than you needed is raised they keep it to help others. I think since it's a non-profit you don't pay taxes for what you received, but don't quote me on that.

[dasmol]

Congrats, best wishes to you both.

I donated 10 years ago. While qualifying, had full support from employer, a very small yet highly successful business. Loved my job, earned a good living. When notified I was a match and cleared for donation, informed employer who without hesitation informed me my position was eliminated, effective immediately.

Long story, but couldn't apply for new job, surgery was a month away.

Donation went well for recipient, however I had multiple complications, in intensive care for 10 days. Took forever to somewhat recover, and during this timeframe recipient died, kidney functioned well to the end. Other issues ultimately caused her death.

It took a year for me to find employment, and have yet to even reach 1/2 of former salary. I'm now in the early stages of kidney failure.

I love the wonderful amazing stories of successful live donor donations. I just want people to recognize the risks involved, and that sometimes the outcome is so far from the future you envisioned.

I never read or hear about stories similar to mine, yet I'm certain I am not the only one.

I have become a completely different person than the woman I was. Everything in my life changed. Be real I, and be prepared.

I admire and respect each and every donor. You are brave and caring, selfless heroes!

Stay positive, healthy and happy!

[AH21015 in reply to dasmol]

I sorry to hear that this happened to you. I too had complications spent 10 day total in hospital and 3 in ICU. However, I eventually bounced back. My receipent is doing well and I dont regret it not onr bit. Only thing I would do differently is be more prepared if things dont go as expected. I was 26 at the time and expected myself to do much better after surgery and I got really really down in the hospital just because I expected everything to go as planned. So I definitely agree a lot of preparation (especially mentally) is needed. Hope your story turns around!

[AH21015]

Don’t give up! So I had short term disability which is 60%. My job had a organ donor policy (noone knew about) which paid me 30 full days (which was 10 weeks for me because I only work 3 days a week). I found Georgia Transplant Foundation which paid up to $1,000 worth of my bills for one month. And I had Aflac which was a supplementary hospital plan I had randomly putchase a few years prior, which paid me a few thousand. So I said all that to say I scheduled my surgery 3 weeks out without knowing how I was going to afford to live, and within days found so many resources. Keep searching! There is definitely money out there to support donors. I know it will work out for you <3

[klatkam]

Did you speak with your employer, many times employers will follow in rare circumstances, what the federal government does for their civilian employees' benefits, if it's something that hasn't come up before, I would respectfully go individually and just ask if he would be willing, I was off for 30-days, more information could be found at chcoc.gov/content/organ-don.... I would explore that route.

[Michaelynn]

My short term disability did not cover the "elective" surgery. Some employers allow coworkers to donate sick time. Mine did not. We reached out to the community for donations to cover my unpaid time off and other expenses to the recipient. We received an outpouring of support. Use social media and local news. We were featured 3 newspapers and on the TV news. We had no trouble covering our expenses this way it was really great to feel supported by our community

[maryalraines NKF Ambassador]

It can vary by insurance, employer and which state you reside. For instance, the State of Texas covers lost wages for any donor that is a state employee, of which educators are included. Also my retiree insurance plan gave a one time $10,000 for my donor for transportation, food, housing and lost wages.

Check your state laws through your representative. You may be surprised at the allocations many don’t know exists on the state level.