Citizens encouraged to join the “New York State Donate Life” Registry through the DMV, Board of Elections or the State Health Benefit Exchange
“Each year the waiting list for organ transplants grows longer, with nearly 10,000 New Yorkers currently awaiting a transplant in this state alone,” said Senator Kemp Hannon (R-Nassau). “As a longtime proponent of organ donation, and the sponsor of a new law enacted last year to allow donors to sign up through the State’s Health Benefit Exchange (S.6952, Laws of 2016), I urge residents to strongly become donors during Organ and Tissue Donation Month.”
Hannon’s bill, signed into law last year by the Governor, provides New Yorkers with additional opportunities to become donors by signing up for the Donate Life Registry when they applied for insurance through the State Health Benefit Exchange. Prior to this law, would-be donors primarily signed up via applications at the DMV the Board of Elections.
Additionally, Hannon has had a Senate Resolution passed memorializing the Governor to Proclaim April 2017 as Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness in the State of New York.
“No one knows when they or a loved one may need a transplant to survive, or tissue to repair injury or treat disease,” said Hannon. “While there are over 19 million New Yorkers, currently only 4.4 million are enrolled in the New York State Donate Life Registry. The Awareness month provides the opportunity to educate people, to encourage them to consider organ and tissue donation, and to add their names to the Donate Life Registry. “
New Yorkers have for years been urged to sign up to be organ and tissue donors—a database who have chosen, upon their death, to donate organs and tissues. This is done through on-line registration, when they apply for or renew their driver’s license, complete voter registration forms, or sign up for the State Health Benefit Exchange, as well as at events held throughout the State.
“I urge everyone to become a lifesaving organ and tissue donor,” said Hannon. “It’s quick and easy, and you can do it many ways, including visiting the Donate Life (www.donatelife.net) website. A single person donating at their death can help as many as 75 people. Please sign up to become a donor now.”
