Covering the costs of a non-directed kidney donation

[Kleeberg]

I am in the process of awaiting the workup of a person willing to donate a kidney to me.  My insurance covers the costs of his work-up.  I have recently learned of the non-designated donor group - people who are willing to donate their kidneys to help start a chain reaction of exchanges.  Who covers the cost of their evaluation?  I imagine the recipient-to-be does.  Is that true?

What if, during the workup, they the individual is not eligible to donate?  My wife was willing to donate to me but after an extensive workup, the final study, a CT, discovered she had some small cysts that made her ineligible.  Since that was directed, my insurance paid.  But what if she were a non-designated donor?

Paul

[Fr Pat]

I donated a kidney non-directed 16 years ago. The hospital bills the donor's test costs to the recipient's insurance once the donation takes place. Those who TRY to donate but are disqualified were not billed. The costs of their failed tests are billed to  the patient who eventually receives a kidney from somebody else. Failed tests and successful tests are all considered part of the total cost for the eventual recipient. At least that is how it worked at that hospital.
      Fr. Pat