Many of you felt that if the government offered some type of compensation for being an organ donor, the number of people willing to participate in the donor program would increase. Some of the incentives that were mentioned included tax breaks, lowered health insurance rates, free college tuition, government subsidies, and media attention for organ donors.

The following links will greatly assist you in answering the following questions:

• http://www.unos.org/Resources/bioethics_whitepapers_finance.htm
• http://www.warwick.ac.uk/news/pr/medicine/325
• http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/upload/mm/369/ceja_report_054.pdf
• http://www.ikidney.com/professional_to_professional/anitem.cfm?AnnID=63
• http://www.centerspan.org/tnn/0103152.htm
• http://reason.com/rb/rb041801.shtml

Question #1: When did the current system of altruistic organ donation first appear?

Question #2: What is the meaning of financial incentives?

Question #3: If financial incentives were used by the government, it is argued that the term "donor" would not be applicable to the recipients of the incentives. What other terms would be used?

Question #4: What are some of the pros and cons of financial incentives?

Question #5: In 1991, the United Network for Organ Sharing Ethics Committee, conducted a survey of public attitudes of the idea of financial incentives. What percentage of the people surveyed were for the idea?

Question #6: On March 7, 2001 the Organ Donation Improvement Act was passed, and provided a form of compensation for donors. What was this compensation?