There are not too many policies that can save and improve lives while saving the government money, but Chris Bishop’s member’s bill providing greater compensation to live organ donors may be one.

Late Wednesday evening, Parliament voted that Bishop’s member’s bill should proceed to committee. The Bill ensures that those heroes giving up a kidney or a liver lobe in a live organ transplant are not left too much out of pocket. Current compensation through Work and Income is, at most, about a third of the average wage. Consequently, many people cannot afford to take the time off work that is required to recuperate after giving up a kidney. And so too many people remain stuck on dialysis, where they have shorter and worse lives, and where they cost the Ministry of Health rather a lot.

Elizabeth Prasad’s report on the economics of organ transplant, released this week, shows just how much better off New Zealand could be if donors received appropriate compensation. Every kidney transplant that takes someone off dialysis provides years more life expectancy – and better years – while saving the Ministry of Health about $125,000. Being stingy around compensating live donors winds up costing the country a lot in transplants that do not take place.

Her report notes the Israeli system. There, live organ donors not only receive very generous compensation for their gift, plus a week in a rather nice recuperation facility, they also receive a guarantee that should they ever need an organ, they will not be at the back of the queue.

This priority treatment for live donors can matter. Being worried about what might happen if your remaining kidney fails could keep you from donating to a family member – even if you could afford to make the gift. Providing priority treatment to donors is a form of insurance against that kind of outcome – an insurance that can encourage donation. The number of live donors increased substantially after Israel compensated donors and provided priority treatment for live donors, though some of the increase was due to other factors.

The Select Committee considering Bishop’s Bill should consider providing an assurance to live organ donors that, having shortened the waiting list by one spot, those donors will not later find themselves at the queue’s end.