New York State Health

Hundreds of New Yorkers’ Lives Could Be Saved Each Year Under New Program

Following New York Focus’s reporting, the state health department is moving to implement a law meant to boost kidney donations.

Sam Mellins · April 10, 2025

| Photos: Science Photo Library, Spiderplay / Getty Images | Illustration: Leor Stylar

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James Urtel desperately needs a kidney. His own failed in 2012 — when he was 42 years old, working as a horse trainer — and he went through eight years of dialysis before being matched for a transplant. But his new kidney was heavily scarred and doctors told him it likely wouldn’t last longer than a year.

Urtel is still relying on that kidney nearly five years later, despite a vigorous publicity campaign that included a billboard adorned with a photo of his cat. He’s seeking a living donor, since their organs last longer and are rejected by the recipient’s body less often. But dozens of potential matches have failed, and Urtel is at risk of becoming one of the hundreds of New Yorkers who die each year waiting for a kidney transplant.

“I’ve been fighting now for 13 years,” Urtel, who lives in Genesee County, told New York Focus. “It’s so tough to get a living donor.”

His trials may be nearing their end: He recently matched with a donor and is expecting to receive a new kidney in June.

Photo collage of two pairs of hands holding a paper cutout of a pair of kidneys, in front of a pile of hundred dollar bills.

New York’s Health Department is Ignoring a Law That Could Save Lives

Sam Mellins

New York could soon see more of such vital donations. A life-saving but long-stalled program to reimburse kidney donors will start within a few months, New York Department of Health officials said at a meeting on Wednesday. New York is set to be the first state to implement such a program, which the health department estimates could be used by as many as 500 New Yorkers a year.

The program will allow New Yorkers who donate a kidney to fellow New York residents to be reimbursed up to $14,000 for medical expenses, lost wages during recovery, and other costs associated with the procedure, such as travel.

The law was supposed to take effect in mid-2023, but the health department failed to implement it, citing budget constraints and staff shortages.

Following recent reporting from New York Focus on the agency’s continued failure to follow the law, Department of Health Commissioner James McDonald told lawmakers in February that the program would begin operating by the end of 2025 — the first time the department had committed to a timeline.

In the time since McDonald’s testimony, department staff has finished drafting regulations for running the program, and plans to begin taking public feedback within the next two weeks. If no changes are needed after the public weighs in, the program could begin accepting applications as soon as June, said Eugene Heslin, the health department’s deputy commissioner and chief medical officer.

Split screen: left - New York Focus Article, "New York's Health Department is Ignoring a Law that Could Save Lives;" right - Health Commissioner James McDonald.

Health Department Promises Action on Organ Donation After New York Focus Reporting

Sam Mellins

“I know it’s taken a long time to get to this point,” Heslin said at the meeting. “We’re taking active steps and we wanted to get this right.”

The reimbursement will also be available to people who donated a kidney after April 1, 2023 — the date the law was supposed to take effect. Those individuals must apply within three months of the program’s start date, according to the agency.

This year’s state budget, which should be finalized soon, is likely to include another boost to organ donation: a tax credit of up to $10,000 to reimburse donors. The measure was initially proposed by Governor Kathy Hochul, and it was included in the budget proposal of both legislative houses — generally a sign that a measure is headed for passage. Donors will not be eligible to claim money from both the tax credit and the Department of Health’s program.

New York Focus has been tracking the law, and the delays in its implementation, since 2022.

Now, the big day appears to be near.

“I think it’s wonderful that New York is taking the lead,” said Lewis Teperman, a transplant surgeon at Long Island’s North Shore University Hospital, who chairs the council overseeing the state’s transplant program. “It’s a fantastic program, it’s just taken a little time to get going.”