Posted Apr. 21, 2016 at 6:38 PM Many living organ donors today experience higher premiums or denial of insurance coverage based solely on their status as a donor. But hopefully not for long. In late February, the Living Donor Protection Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate and in the House of Representatives. This bill will protect living organ donors by prohibiting insurance companies from denying or limiting life, disability and long term care insurance to living donors, and from charging higher premiums. The bill also clarifies that living organ donors may use time granted through the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to recover from donation. This is significant for me because my daughter is a kidney transplant recipient. We saw first-hand that her living donor had to return to work sooner than recommended for fear of losing his job. There are over 100,000 people waiting to receive a kidney transplant. In 2015, 17,878 kidney transplants were performed and 5,628 were from living donors. I hope that Sen, Mark Warner, Sen. Tim Kaine, and Rep. Dave Brat will join in co-sponsoring this important legislation. Kelly Cline Glen Allen, Virginia