HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1419
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to health.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that in the State of Hawaii, the need for viable organ donations, especially kidney donations, has increased as our population becomes older, obesity has risen, and diabetes has affected the lives of so many of our residents.

     Concurrently, the pool of donors has remained quite small, providing fewer than ten living donor organ donations per year in the State of Hawaii, yet there are currently more than four hundred fifty people on Hawaii's organ transplant list waiting for donations.  In recent years, Hawaii has maintained the longest transplant list, per capita, of any state in the United States.

     The geographical and financial challenges to donating an organ in Hawaii also contribute to the low incidence of donations.  Many potential donors live on the neighbor islands, and the only available transplant team in Hawaii is located at The Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu.  Because of this geographical challenge, many potential neighbor island donors cannot afford to provide the donation due to the costs of travel, lost wages, high Honolulu lodging costs, and other related expenses.  The legislature finds that this has caused a disturbing and virtually silent crisis for those in Hawaii who need organ transplants.

     A surprising number of those waiting for organs in Hawaii are children, many of whom may not survive to adulthood without a transplant.  For those with kidney disease, the cost of kidney dialysis is approximately $500 per patient per treatment.  With most patients requiring at least three treatments a week, that adds up to approximately $78,000 per kidney patient, per year, in costs, most of which is paid through the state medicaid program.  These are costs that could largely be eliminated through a transplant.  Hawaii virtually never receives adult kidneys or other organs from mainland transplant teams because of the geographical distance.

     Hawaii also faces ethnic and cultural challenges to living organ donation.  For example, Pacific islanders often have an antigen in their blood that requires them to receive organs from an ethnically similar donor with the same antigen.  Native Hawaiian, Pacific islander, Filipino, and Japanese ethnic groups traditionally have a risk for chronic kidney disease that is two to four times greater than other ethnicities in Hawaii, also contributing to greater need for local donors.  Kidney recipients who receive a kidney donated by a living donor rather than a cadaver donor tend to live twice as long.  Therefore, living donor kidneys are, by far, the best choice for recipients.  Finally, organ donations – especially kidney donations - are easier and safer, and the recovery time is much faster today than years ago.

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 235, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§235-    Other provisions as to gross income, adjusted gross income, and taxable income; organ donation.  For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2015, there shall be excluded from gross income, adjusted gross income, and taxable income an amount not to exceed $10,000 for unreimbursed travel expenses, lodging expenses, and lost wages incurred by any taxpayer who donates one or more organs, while living, to another person for human organ transplantation; provided that the exclusion is claimed for the taxable year in which the human organ transplantation occurs.  The exclusion allowed under this section shall not be claimed more than once in any taxable year.

     For the purposes of this section, "human organ" means all or part of a liver, pancreas, kidney, intestine, lung, eye, or bone marrow."

     SECTION 3.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act, upon its approval shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2014.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

Tax Deduction; Organ Donation

 

Description:

Allows, for taxable years beginning after 12/31/2014, an exclusion from gross income for up to $10,000 for unreimbursed travel expenses, lodging expenses, and lost wages incurred by a taxpayer who donates an organ, while living, to another person.

 

 

 

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