Any Experience With Living Donor From Overseas Who Has No U.S. Insurance?

[JBB2]

I've just begun my transplant process and my initial evaluation was very positive that I will qualify to be put on the transplant list. The transplant center explained the differences between a living and cadaver donor and the positive benefits of a living donor. I have a sibling who lives in another country (she is a Canadian, not U.S. citizen) who is willing to be my living donor (or participate in a paired exchange), but I haven't gotten any clear information on whether she would be covered for the significant medical expenses of going through the donor process. The financial coordinator said that my insurance would cover it, but she didn't sound 100% confident that she knew what she was talking about and could answer questions when I pressed on details like if this would include the initial battery of tests or in the event that there are complications. I also got conflicting information from the transplant coordinator who seemed to think that the donor's own insurance needs to cover their own team. They did mention that non-American living donors do happen, so I have to think there's someone out there who has some information or experience with this.

Does anyone know how the financing or medical coverage works for a living donor transplant in the U.S. when the donor is not a resident of or insured in the U.S.? The donor is Canadian so there's no visa issues for her being in the U.S. to donate her kidney and I understand that I would have to cover travel expenses personally.

[JBB2]

I found this information which should apply to a non-US resident living donor:

kidney.org/transplantation/...

[Herkidney]

Contact your insurance company for this information. It was surprising how helpful my insurance company was during my transplant process . . . honestly I was a little suspicious as to why the insurance company representatives were being so nice.

[JBB2 in reply to Herkidney]

A transplant case manager reached out to me from my insurance company. She seems very helpful and its nice to have a dedicated case manager who will be my point person with the insurance company throughout. She is someone who specializes in transplants and apparently my transplant benefits are separate from my usual medical benefits. She confirmed that my transplant benefits would cover the evaluation, surgery and “30 days” of post-op for a donor, regardless of if that donor was a U.S. resident or not. However, she noted that the donor would have to come to the U.S. for the evaluation (usually 1-day) as well as the actual surgery. I asked what happens if there are complications beyond 30-days post-op for the donor and she said that in the rare instance that that happened, we could apply for an extension of the benefits.

[Lionkin]

I would suggest first talk to the Transplant Center financial department - they will guide provide you necessary information which will be useful when presenting both the cases (you & donor) to the insurance.. (typically donors in the US are treated with lot of regards as they are being very altruistic).. Good Luck.

[JBB2]

Thank you for the thoughts. I couldn't find any articles specific to non-US resident donors, but there is information on uninsured donors, which is effectively what my sibling would be. I will contact my insurance company and also have her contact the transplant center to make inquiries (they prefer a potential living donor contact them themselves instead of the recipient calling them on their behalf).

In general, my initial research seems to confirm that my insurance would cover an uninsured living donor's evaluation, surgery and post-op. However, there are issues to consider for foreign donors such as whether their life and health insurance in their home countries would subsequently consider a living donation a pre-existing condition and thus preclude her from staying on their plans. This wouldn't be an issue for my sister if she lived in Canada which has a universal publicly guaranteed healthcare system but she lives in a country without such a system that applies to foreigners.

[WYOAnne NKF Ambassador]

You should first talk with the social worker at your transplant center where you got listed.

It is usually your insurance that pays for the living donor's health care.

There's a lot to work out, but this is a good place to start. They deal with living donation everyday and should be able to provide you with a lot of information.

I would think that there is a way...

Good luck.

[Transplant314]

Cannot give an accurate comment about non US citizens. My insurance company paid for testing and surgery for both my donor and myself, as well as the testing of different candidates who were willing to go through testing to see if they were a match. As others have suggested you must check with your insurance company. The coverage is a financial decision on their part. It cost teem less overall to pay for a transplant then to pay for dialysis for so many years. Good luck

[valexzhou]

My transplant was blessed by my mom about a year ago and she traveled from China to US for donation, and doesn’t have any US insurance, most of her medical expense(match, test)were covered by my insurance, the only expense can not covered by my insurance are 1) anything expenses for regular/annual health check(mammogram, Pap smear, etc.) 2) Rx cost for treating any diseases discovered during the Donnor health check.

For #1, my transplant team recommended us to take all the necessary annual check in China, so they can reuse the test result in US. For #2, my transplant team helped me with coupons and connect with pharmacy where I got quite good discount. At the end, the total expense for my mom for everything is less than $500, but this may be vary for different people and situations, different insurance.

Sharing here, and hope this helps.

[LZBTH in reply to valexzhou]

My Transplant Center would NOT allow my potential donor in Maine to be approved because they didn’t have health insurance. Their rationale was that the donor needed health coverage if they needed medical care after the transplant. They said it would not be ethical of them to have a donor in jeopardy of not being able to access medical care if needed. I managed to get this person insurance through the Affordable Health Care Act (Obama Care).

[Sunshine3668 in reply to LZBTH]

Hi ! Ii had transplant in MD.. I have Medicare, Medicaid, and the kidney disease program (a foundation in MD).. my donor didn't have insurance . Anything for donor related to transplant was coved by my insurance Not sure if it's different in different states. If I were you I call the national kidney foundation at 1800 622 9010 they would be the best to help you. Good luck