Living kidney donation in
Massachusetts
Verified centers in Massachusetts
Baystate Medical Center
Springfield, MA
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchange · not yet verifiedBaystate's living donor program page lists paired kidney exchange, non-directed donation, and advanced donation among the types of living kidney donation offered at the center, and says the National Kidney Registry named the program a Donor Care Network Center of Excellence.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Boston, MA
NLDAC financial assistancePaired exchangeBIDMC's living-kidney-donation page says the center participates in the National Kidney Registry and offers a kidney exchange option for a donor who isn't compatible with their intended recipient, and every prospective donor meets with an independent living donor advocate.
Boston Children's Hospital
Boston, MA
NLDAC financial assistancePaired exchange · not yet verifiedA pediatric program. Boston Children's Hospital's kidney-transplant page says living-donor surgery for its program takes place in collaboration with a partner adult hospital connected to Boston Children's by a bridge, and non-directed donors are accepted.
Boston Medical Center
Boston, MA
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchangeBoston Medical Center's living kidney donor FAQ says a donor who isn't compatible with their intended recipient can still give through the center's paired exchange or kidney swap program.
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Boston, MA
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchange · not yet verifiedLahey Clinic Medical Center
Burlington, MA
NLDAC financial assistancePaired exchangeLahey's living-kidney-donation page says the program participates in the National Kidney Registry, and names the National Living Donor Assistance Center as a resource for a donor's out-of-pocket costs.
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, MA
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchange · not yet verifiedTufts Medical Center
Boston, MA
NLDAC financial assistancePaired exchangeTufts Medicine's kidney transplant and living kidney donor page says the program participates in Kidney-Paired Donation, and that the National Living Donor Assistance Center may help with a donor's uncovered costs.
UMass Memorial Medical Center
Worcester, MA
NLDAC financial assistance · not yet verifiedPaired exchangeUMass Memorial's living kidney donor page says the center partners with national kidney donation programs, including the National Kidney Registry, and describes paired donation for a donor who isn't compatible with their intended recipient.
Living donors in Massachusetts: grade C
Massachusetts has 2 of the seven protections tracked. Worth checking exactly which before you plan time off — the fact sheet below has the detail, and your transplant center's donor advocate will know it too.
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 Massachusetts 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.