Sunday, June 13, 2004

Tax deductions for live organ donors

In January, Wisconsin became the first state to offer a tax deduction to live organ donors. The Wisconsin law lets live organ donors deduct up to $10,000 of transplant-related out-of-pocket expenses from their state income taxes. Legislatures is several other states, including Georgia, Minnesota, New York, and South Carolina, are considering similar legislation.

Rewarding organ donors is a good thing to do. It causes more people to become donors, and that saves lives.

But if government is going to reward organ donation, it would be better off rewarding people to donate their organs when they die. Live organ donors face serious health risks, but there's no health risk to an organ donor who is already dead.

An excellent way to reward people for agreeing to donate their organs when they die is to move them up the waiting list if they ever need an organ to live. That's what LifeSharers does.

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