Donor Shield offers reimbursement for lost wages and expenses for donation-related travel, lodging and dependent care. Covered travel expenses include transportation (taxi, ride share, car rental, parking), mileage (IRS medical mileage rate) and lodging (hotel, motel, Airbnb, etc.). Covered dependent-care expenses include child or adult day care, before- and after-school care, in-home care and summer day camp.
Liver FAQ: Cost Reimbursement
Cost reimbursement for donors includes lost wages up to $2,000 per week for up to six weeks, and donation-related costs for travel and lodging (for the donor and a caregiver) and dependent care (for children or adult dependents of the donor) up to a maximum of $5,000.
Expenses for meals and gas are not covered by Donor Shield.
All post-donation reimbursements for travel, lodging and dependent care are made via ACH within approximately 10 business days after submission of receipts.
Whether a person is a U.S. citizen or a resident alien, in order to lawfully be employed, one MUST have a Social Security Number. The SSN allows the National Kidney Registry to be certain that the individual is legally employed and eligible for lost wage reimbursement. Additionally, the SSN is required when the NKR distributes tax documents specific to the donor at the end of the year.
No, you do not need to provide ACH information or any additional documentation if you are not requesting cost reimbursement. You are automatically enrolled in the other protections.
All donors are required to provide the following when submitting a request for lost wage reimbursement:
- Two most recent paystubs
- Tax return from previous year
- ACH bank information (account number and routing number) for the account to which you want the reimbursement disbursed
At your earliest convenience, ask your transplant social worker or transplant coordinator to resend the invitation to you. Please double-check that all ACH information has been accurately entered before clicking “Continue.”
If you are self-employed, you need to provide form 1040, 1099, 941 or a K1 form.
You are required to upload paystubs for all jobs, and they all must have the same or overlapping pay period dates.
If you do not have a scanner, you can ask your transplant social worker or transplant coordinator for assistance in uploading the requested forms and receipts, or you can use a scanner at a public library.
Lost wage reimbursement only covers wages lost due to the liver donation. A donor who is not currently working at the time of liver donation will not lose wages due to the donation. Unemployment benefits are not covered under the lost wage reimbursement program.
This must be requested by the transplant center through the NKR system after the donor has received the first two weeks of lost wage reimbursement. Donors are eligible for up to a total of six weeks of reimbursement.
All lost wage reimbursements are made via ACH within approximately 10 business days after submission of proper documentation.
Payments are made via ACH (direct payment to your bank). Payment will come from the law firm of Smith Carroad Wan & Parikh, P.C., which has been retained by the NKR to manage the Donor Shield reimbursement process.
The NKR has been approved to offer a maximum of six weeks of wage reimbursement per donor. No exceptions can be made at this time.
Lost wage reimbursement is only available to donors with a valid Employer Identification Number (EIN) or Social Security Number (SSN). The other Donor Shield protections do not require an EIN or SSN.