Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville’s Margaret “Peggy” Tighe assisted the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (“ASTS”) in advancing legislation that removes workplace and insurance barriers to organ donation for more than 90,000 people who are currently awaiting a lifesaving kidney transplant: the Living Donor Protection Act of 2025 (“LDPA”).
On February 26, 2026, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (“HELP”) passed the LDPA. The bill prohibits insurance companies from denying or limiting coverage for living organ donors, amends the Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) to specifically include living organ donation as a serious health condition for private and civil service employees, and requires the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) to update informational materials on live organ donation that reflect the new protections – all of which will encourage more individuals to consider donating the gift of life.
Working with ASTS and on this bill for over a decade, Tighe noted, “Passage of this bill represents an important step toward empowering donors in workforce protection and insurance that have too often discouraged living donation.” She added, “I’m proud to work with the bill champions and transplant stakeholders to negotiate with all impacted organizations to position this bill to pass into law in this Congress.”
The legislation is championed by Senators Cotton (R-AR) and Gillibrand (D-NY) and Representatives Bacon (R-NE) and Nadler (D-NY). The LDPA is non-controversial, bipartisan, earned a zero Congressional Budget Office score, and is supported by American Council of Life Insurers and over thirty patient and provider organizations.
Founded in 1974, the ASTS is the premier professional organization dedicated exclusively to the field of transplant surgery in North America. ASTS unites more than 2,000 transplant surgeons and allied health professionals committed to advancing the art and science of transplant surgery through patient care, research, education, and advocacy.
To read the full bill text, click here. To learn more about Powers Legislative practice, visit https://www.powerslaw.com/practicearea/government-relations-public-policy/.