Introduction: The growing practice of living liver donation requires comprehensive understanding of the financial implications for living liver donors. While obtaining and maintaining insurance is important to financial health, little is known about the impact of liver donation on future insurability.
Research questions: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the donors' experiences with insurance following donation and identify the insurance provider-driven factors that contribute to donor insurability.
Design: A two center cohort of living donors with donation between January 2000 and December 2018 (N = 442) were surveyed about postdonation insurance experiences. To understand insurance provider practices towards liver donors, life (n = 11) and disability (n = 4) insurance underwriters were asked to provide policy quotes for a standardized living liver donor profile.
Results: Responses (N = 101) were received by August 2020 (response rate = 22.9%). Living liver donors reported owning life (58%), disability (35%), and medical (87%) insurance at rates comparable to the general population with low proportions reporting difficulty obtaining these insurance types (9%, 9%, 4%, respectively). Post-donation life insurance ownership was associated with post-donation employment (P = 0.01). Underwriter responses indicate life and disability insurability were adversely affected up to 12 months following donation.
Conclusions: Living liver donors did not have difficulty maintaining insurance in the long-term but should be counseled to purchase insurance prior to surgery as short-term insurability may be affected. Perception of difficulty obtaining insurance following donation remains of significant concern among living donors. Further collaboration between the transplant community and insurance companies is warranted.
Keywords: clinical outcomes; correlational; donor awareness; donor maintenance; education; ethics; living donor; organ donation; procurement; quantitative methods; research.