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Cash For Kidneys Analysis

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Becker and Elias in their article: Cash for Kidneys: A Case for the Market of Organs, show many different perspectives in both fact and opinion on the topic of Kidney transplants. The amount of kidney transplants in 2012 greatly differ from a decade ago as the average wait time for a transplant has increased by 1.6 years and the amount of American Citizens needing a transplant has risen by 41,000 people. Today, the demand for a kidney transplant far exceeds the supply of matching donor kidneys. With four main blood types and different muscle tissues to match, this is both a lengthy and difficult task. With less kidneys than needed, hence the current wait time of 4.5 years, many people die while waiting for the transplant they so desperately …show more content…

Currently, the cost of waiting for a kidney transplant, in total, is 350,000 dollars while on dialysis. This accounts to 80,000 dollars annually. With more variations of kidneys due to a market for organs, this wait time can drastically decrease, thus allowing patients to save quite a bit of money. If the transplant costs 150,000 dollars and the added compensation for the organ (15,000) donated totals the operation to equal 165,000 dollars, the average patient is saving over 50% of what they would have had to pay if on dialysis for the 4.5 year waiting period. Therefore, the marginal benefit of creating a market for organs highly outweighs the marginal cost of the compensation and lives risked for not creating such a market. The market would socially benefit the patients, and economically benefit the donors (as they receive money for their donation), doctors (as they receive more money from the transplant), and family of the patient (who will save a lot of money in the long run that they could put toward after care for the patient, or a college fund for their grandchildren). Additionally, creating this market would even the playing field a bit as people “cheat” their way to a higher spot on the waiting list by living in multiple states. It will also reduce the amount of wealthy people who go overseas to “cut the line” and get involved in illegal black markets. This market will allow the process to be more fair overall. The money involved creates an incentive for donors, yes, but it also highly benefits the patient who needs a kidney to

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