Cheaper funerals for organ donors

[Bobblehead]

In the Netherlands

Funeral insurance group Monuta is to cut funeral costs by €150 if the deceased is an organ donor. Monuta, the biggest funeral insurance group in the country, said it was responding to calls by the Kidney Foundation

link

Interesting idea. I'll be curious to see what affect this has on organ donation rates.

[CrusaderPi]

I really think organ donation should be the same as the negative billing option the cable companies used a decade ago. Unless declared previously, doctors and hospitals just assume all organs are available for donation.

Worst case scenario is a family members of relative who died didn't want the organs reused get a heartfelt apology from a doctor and someone else gets to live.

Also in my fantasy world, no one can get sued over this "unfortunate" life saving scenario.

[Reaper]

I am all in favour of this practice happening in Canada even if it were the federal government providing the subsidy to the family of the deceased. Far too many people refuse to donate organs because of stupid reasons like "I won't have you butchering my _______ by harvesting his/her organs." The dead person won't miss the organs but if all are successfully harvested then at least 6 people could benefit.

[Bobblehead]

I wonder what the insurance company gets out of this?

Will the donation of organs allow them to collect premiums for longer from recipients? Or does just the added publicity from this cover the additional costs?

I just can't picture any insurance company instituting a policy like this without some sort of an angle, although I am all for the concept. On the surface it sounds like a win win for all concerned.

[Frank the Tank]

Originally Posted by fotze

$150 seems kind of low. 6 peoples lives for $150. $25 a life. If we have to resort to money, may as well make it an incentive.

Considering it costs about $12,000 to bury someone. (Well, thats what my cousins husband said her funeral cost him)

[Burninator]

Well technically 150 EUR is equal to $225 CDN. But I agree it would be good to see a larger amount, mostly likely one from the government.

[FireFly]

Every little bit helps. Yes, the sum is paltry, however, if it entices even one person to donate their organs, it's worth it. If funeral costs are cheaper, how about making living wills cheaper for those who say "you can pull the plug after my organs are donated"? (I have no idea how much a living will costs to draft, but it's just an idea/example.)

[fredr123]

I was expecting fotze to make a crack about it being cheaper because there was less of the person to bury.

[CrusaderPi]

Originally Posted by fredr123

I was expecting fotze to make a crack about it being cheaper because there was less of the person to bury.

Good thing you are here to pick up the slack.

[Wookie]

Well I agree with the poster who mentioned the insurance companies might have an angle. I think it's a great idea. However, I'm not sure of the consequences on the government. More organ donation, people living longer, past retirement, more prescriptions, more treatment, living longer to be treated for more ailments.

Sadly the best case for the government is for an individual to die the day they retire.

[Stillman16]

In the states they pay for blood donation, I'd like to see some incentive like that here.

For instance, the government could give tax receipts (no actual money) when someone donates, and for organs, the government could offer similar incentives to be put against the person's final tax return, thus increasing the return for the estate.

Sounds like something that might sway some to donate blood and become organ donors.