Our program is designed to provide  financial assistance for the most vulnerable patients with significant financial hardship. Our goal is to provide support to living donors so they won’t be in a financial trouble after giving the Gift of Life and to ensure transplant recipients have access to medication that keeps them alive.  

This is the only program of its kind that is available nationwide that provides emergency financial assistance grants to transplant recipients and living organ donors, regardless of their legal status. All financial decisions are made by our Transplant Leadership Council (TLC) members. 

We do not receive any government funding and rely on generous individuals to provide lifesaving donations that benefit patients in need.

Who can receive grants?

 We focus our funding on the most financially vulnerable patients. We know one size doesn’t fit all, and as an independent, non-government funded foundation we understand that every situation and every patient is unique.

Typically, the individuals and families we help are making up to 200% of current FP guidelines.

We will only consider Living Donors who...

• Will experience extreme financial need as a result of taking unpaid time off  to recover after saving a life and have very limited financial resources
• Will experience lost wages during their hospital stay and/or recovery due to organ donation, AND not be able to donate an organ without facing financial crisis and assistance from our organization is critical
  
  Priority is given to living donors who:
  • Lack paid time off to cover lost wages and/or disability benefits/access to employee assistance programs
  • Have multiple dependents
  • Have no social support/no opportunity to do fundraising through nonprofit organizations to cover expenses associated with donation
  • Have a recipient who is unable to help with any direct expenses related to donation
  • Have a physically demanding job that will require a longer post-surgery recovery
  • Are non-directed living donors
  • Both recipient and donor are members of the same household, both are employed and will be affected by lost wages

We will only consider Transplant Recipients who have...  

• Delinquent insurance premiums to prevent loss of insurance coverage, and/or medication co-payments during insurance gap periods and/or changes in their insurance provider.
  
  

Additional Important Information

1. Applications may only be submitted by transplant program social worker or transplant coordinator. Patients seeking assistance should contact their assigned transplant program social worker or transplant coordinator for details.
   
   
2. Due to a high volume of applications, please submit your application as much in advance as possible, at least 2-3 weeks before the surgery date. Once the application is submitted, expect the processing time to be 2-3 weeks to receive a funding decision from the volunteer voting committee. Unfortunately, we cannot consider incomplete applications and cannot follow up with each applicant. Please ensure applications are complete.
   
   
3. Please have all vendor, insurance, income/expenses information, and letter from employer (Living Donor Application only) ready before beginning the application. You may not save and return later.
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4. Please take the time to describe in detail why the patient is in need of assistance. We are driven by our desire to help patients and their families,  and we need your help to have an accurate picture of the situation the patient is dealing with. Please be as detailed as possible. 
   
   
5. Every application that fits the program guidelines is presented to our Transplant Leadership Council members, a group of dedicated volunteers, who ultimately vote on the funding decision; they don't have access to information related the patient's transplant center.  Please click the FAQ button below below for more details on how funding decisions are being made. 
   
   
6. If this is your first application within the last 6 months, you will need to set up an orientation with the American Transplant Foundation. Please email us at support@americantransplantfoundation.org to set up a brief 10-minute conversation.

If you have any questions or if you are having trouble uploading or saving the application, please contact us immediately. For the quickest response, please email Support@AmericanTransplantFoundation.org. 

PLEASE NOTE: If Transplant Social Worker has not submitted a patient application within the past 12 months, social worker will need to complete an orientation with ATF Staff Member. Please email support@americantransplantfoundation.org to schedule your 10-15 minute orientation.

Important Deadlines:

• Applications for living donors must be submitted at least 2-3 weeks before scheduled surgery date.
  • If you do not have an exact surgery date, please use an approximate surgery date and make note on the application.
• Applications for Living Donors after the surgery will only be considered if the patient has significant complications within 30 days after the surgery and is required to take more time off than originally planned.

Who do we fund? 

• Living Organ Donors who are donating solid organs (i.e kidney and liver)
• Typically, the individuals and families we help are making up to 200% of current FP guidelines.

What do we fund?

• We compensate for the wages lost during the recovery period for living organ donors
• Patients must be employed and experience a loss of income while recovering from surgery.
• Financial assistance covers loss of wages during the hospital stay and/or recovery due to organ donation; essential living expenses such as rent, electric, automobile, and phone bills.
• Priority is given to living donors who:
  • Lack paid time off to cover lost wages and/or disability benefits/access to employee assistance programs
  • Have multiple dependents ​
  • Have no social support/no opportunity to do fundraising through nonprofit organizations to cover expenses associated with donation
  • Have a recipient who is unable to help with any direct expenses related to donation
  • Have a physically demanding job that will require a longer post-surgery recovery
  • Are non-directed living donors
  • Both recipient and donor are members of the same household, both are employed and will be affected by lost wages
• Our maximum grant amount is capped at $500.

Transplant Social Worker's Responsibility:

• Please send confirmation of surgery to the Foundation via email the day of the surgery. We will then release funds within 2-3 business days of notification. Funds are released directly to the patient. 
• To be considered, applications need to include the following paperwork: 
  • Letter from Employer: All applicants must provide a letter from their current employer. Due to liability regulations, this letter is a required portion of the Patient Assistance Program application.
    • Please provide your patient with this PDF that include employer letter guidelines and an example letter.
  • Patient's most recent pay stub (Optional ): This will help us to expedite the application. We reserve the right to request this, as well as the previous year's tax records, if needed, for income verification.
  • Minimum of one vendor (i.e. rent/mortgage) will need to be included in the application. Vendor name, phone, total amount owed and amount to be covered with this grant will be asked for.  
  • Please obtain this documentation prior to starting the application – you will be able to upload it directly into the application. If you have any questions or are unable to obtain this information, please contact us at Support@AmericanTransplantFoundation.org.
    
    PLEASE NOTE: We are experiencing a drastic increase in requests for lifesaving funds  and  only able to consider the most financially vulnerable transplant patients at this time. Please only submit applications for those in extreme need.

After application is submitted:

• Please allow 2-3 weeks for processing and TLC Committe Review. 
• If the application fits our above guidelines and is a good fit for the program, Transplant Social Worker or Transplant Coordinator will receive a response via email and/or phone from an American Transplant Foundation Staff member.
• Grant checks will be mailed directly to grantee.