Living kidney donation in
California
Verified centers in California
Showing centers verified as enrolled with NLDAC — centers we have not verified yet may also be enrolled; NLDAC itself keeps the definitive answer.
California Pacific Medical Center-Van Ness Campus
San Francisco, CA
NLDAC financial assistancePaired exchangeSutter's living-donor page says CPMC guides donors from a free evaluation through recovery, including a two-day donor evaluation with medical exam, psychosocial consultation, and blood compatibility testing, and that incompatible pairs can go through paired kidney donation.
Rady Children's Hospital and Health Center
San Diego, CA
NLDAC financial assistancePaired exchange · not yet verifiedRady Children's living-donor page says kidney donation for its pediatric patients is coordinated with UC San Diego Health, where donors are evaluated and undergo surgery, and lists paired and voucher donation through the National Kidney Registry as options.
Scripps Green Hospital
La Jolla, CA
NLDAC financial assistancePaired exchange · not yet verifiedScripps Green's living organ donation page names the National Living Donor Assistance Center as a resource that can help with a donor's lost wages and travel expenses, alongside the center's own Donor Shield benefit.
University of California San Diego Medical Center
La Jolla, CA
NLDAC financial assistancePaired exchange · not yet verifiedUC San Diego Health's living-donation page names the National Living Donor Assistance Center as a resource for a donor's lost wages and travel expenses, and describes a paired exchange arranged with the National Kidney Registry.
Living donors in California: grade B
California has 3 of the seven protections tracked, which is around the national middle. Check which ones cover your situation before you plan around them.
What the American Kidney Fund tracks, in every state
- Insurance companies cannot deny you life, disability or long-term care cover, or charge you more, because you donated
- Job-protected leave if you work for the state
- Job-protected leave if you work for a private employer
- Paid leave for living donors
- A tax credit or deduction for your donation costs
- Direct reimbursement of donation expenses
- A tax credit for employers who give donors paid leave
This is the full list AKF scores every state against — not a claim about which of these California has. The fact sheet below has that detail, and it is more current than anything cached here.
Federal family leave can already cover donation. A law written for living donors has not passed yet.
The Department of Labor's position, set out in a formal opinion letter, is that donation surgery and the recovery after it count as a serious health condition under the Family and Medical Leave Act whenever they involve an overnight hospital stay, as donation surgery commonly does. So if you are eligible under that Act, you can take leave to donate and recover, come back to the same or an equivalent job, and keep your group health cover while you are away. The leave itself is unpaid, though paid leave your employer offers can run alongside it. Eligibility depends on the size of your employer and your workplace, and on how long and how many hours you have worked there — the Department of Labor's fact sheet sets out the exact tests, and your employer's HR team can confirm them for you.
The Living Donor Protection Act would write that leave protection into the law itself, and would stop life, disability and long-term care insurers from refusing cover or charging more because you donated. It has not passed. The Senate version has cleared its committee and is awaiting a floor vote; the House version has not moved since it was introduced. Paid leave, and protection for anyone the family-leave law does not reach, depends on what your state has done.
U.S. Department of Labor, opinion letter FMLA2018-2-A; U.S. Department of Labor, FMLA eligibility fact sheet; Congress.gov, S. 1552 / H.R. 4583, checked 24 September 2026
What it costs, and what covers it
The recipient's insurance covers a donor's evaluation, surgery and follow-up. Programs like NLDAC reimburse travel, lodging, dependent care and lost wages for donors who need it — the donor guide walks through both, with sources.
Talk to someone who has donated
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Browse campaignsMy Kidney Story does not collect, store, or evaluate medical information, and nothing on this page is medical advice. Donor eligibility is determined solely by a transplant center after its own independent evaluation.
My Kidney Story is independent and is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, any center listed here, SRTR, OPTN or NLDAC.