A new study shows that financial incentives for living kidney donors could boost donations and save money, NBC New reported. Researchers determined that paying living kidney donors $10,000 apiece would save about $340 per patient -- compared with the ongoing costs of dialysis -- while boosting the quality of life. The numbers are based on what a researcher called a “very conservative” assumption that financial incentives would boost kidney donations by 5 percent. If donations actually rose by 10 percent or 20 percent, the cost savings would jump to $1,640 and $4,030 per patient, respectively. The new research follows a recent survey of 3,000 Canadians. Researchers that found that about 70 percent of members of the general public thought that some form of compensation for organ donation would be OK, but that only 25 percent of transplant doctors agreed.
