Hello, my name is Tasha Vraspir, I’m 36 years old and I’m a Kidney Warrior. With 18% kidney function, I am looking towards a life-saving kidney transplant very soon. Like many other current and future transplant recipients, the impending surgery, while vital, brings with it a multitude of other concerns. Amongst these additional stresses comes time off work to recover, which may be up to 12 weeks, and increased financial burdens.

Organ Transplants are expensive. Based on the Milliman Research Report of 2020 the estimated billed charges for a single kidney transplant were $442,500, whereas a lung transplant was $929,600, and a heart transplant was $1,664,800. These costs included pre-transplant testing, the surgery itself, and services and immunosuppressant medications up to 180 days post-transplant (source: Milliman, pg 3). These costs don’t take into consideration the constraint of a LIFETIME of immunosuppressant medications, bloodwork, and follow-ups after 180 days, nor the non-medical costs such as transportation, food and lodging during recovery, childcare, and lost wages, all of which inflate these numbers significantly.

The Caregivers of transplant recipients are in a similar situation themselves as they need to dedicate two to three months of time off work to monitoring their loved ones 24-hours a day to help prevent organ rejection. This is a requirement and transplant centers will not allow patients to receive an organ without written consent from a designated caregiver.

Concerns over finances and time off are heightened due to the current lack of Paid Medical Leave available for these live-saving operations. The only federal option of FMLA just protects the job itself and benefits but provides no pay. Therefore, based on employer, employees are required to exhaust hard-earned PTO and sick leave and then take the remainder of required time off unpaid, putting extra strain on an already overwhelmingly stressful situation. Having the realization of needing to save up all possible hours then keeps employees from wanting to utilize any sick time beforehand when their illnesses cause them to struggle in day-to-day life. There are currently 104,400 of us on the waiting list to receive an organ transplant within the US and countless others stepping up to be caretakers (source: UNOS). There is a great likelihood that you know one of these brave warriors or valuable caregivers yourself!

Currently our struggles as Recipients and Caregivers remain underrepresented in federal relief efforts. There is law 5 U.S.C. 6327 that allows Federal Employees to receive 30 days paid leave to be an organ donor (Source: OPM.gov). There is also a paid leave provision called the Federal Employees Paid Leave Act, which provides 12 weeks of paid administrative leave exclusively for federal employees in the parental role of a birth, foster, or adoption of a child. The Office of Personnel Management reports that over 2 million, or 1.9% of the civilian workers, are employed by the federal government (source: OPM.gov), of which 13% are of the standard child-bearing statistic, being females less than 40 years old (source: ourpublicservice.org). That equates to over 265,000 potential employees qualified for this Act, not to mention the men with significant others that have pregnancies or the employees that choose to adopt or foster a child. However, there is not a law to protect people as they undergo life-saving surgeries and the selfless others that care for them during their most vulnerable moments.

In comparison, as of 2023, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics states there are 167,800,000 working employees in the US. Also, in 2023 there were 46,632 organ transplants performed (source: Organ Procurement & Transplantation Network). If each transplant recipient had one designated caregiver, this small subgroup of the population would still be less than 100,000 people. Therefore, a policy that provides Paid Leave for Organ Transplant Recipients and Caregivers would include at most a total of 0.06% of the working population. This is a miniscule percentage of people in the big scheme of things, but a group who would greatly benefit from being included into similar laws, as above.

Adding this small subset of the population to the number of Federal Employees that potentially already qualify for other paid leave options, would be a drop in the buckets for the government, but will make a HUGE impact to the recipients and caregivers by lessening the financial implications and worries of an already traumatic and monumental time of their lives.

Many states are developing their own laws to support organ donors through leave and tax assistance and currently 13 states have Paid Family Medical Leave Programs, which include serious medical conditions (source: americanprogress.org). It is time for the Federal Government to follow suite and support Organ Transplant Recipients and their Caregivers. Providing such coverage for this sensitive population bridges the gap and represents a larger step towards recognizing the heroism of organ donation, the silent battles fought by recipients, and the invaluable support of caregivers. It’s not just about us; it’s about every single, silent “warrior” out there.

For me, for us, for all the warriors, I URGE you to sign this petition, pushing for Universal Paid Medical Leave for Organ Transplant Recipients and their Dedicated Caregivers.