[openeyes]

In Iran there is no waiting list for kidneys. With an average monthly salary of $200, donors are paid $1000. Only Iranian citizens can be part of the program. A similar program could work well in the US, with people being paid about 20 grand for a kidney, 10 grand for liver (it grows back) or perhaps a thousand dollars for bone marrow. This would at least help people afford to take time off from work to recuperate.

What I find interesting is that right now in the US it's actually difficult to be an anonymous kidney donor. You're expected to know the person first, otherwise it seems very odd to be that altruistic. With kidney donation there can be downtime of several weeks, which many people couldn't afford even if they wanted to, hence why payment could really help.

I'm in the bone marrow registry, and unless one waits for a local drive to come by there's actually a fee to join the registry of at least $50 to cover the tests. At least I can give blood for free, and as an O- do so fairly often. It'd be nice to get $50-100 for it, and doing so would likely get many more people to give blood, making constant shortages a thing of the past.

Also, I'd have it so that everyone is tested at birth (or whenever proves optimal, with it being possible to opt out of such testing) to see who they're compatible with so that if a match is found they can be notified and given an option to donate. This would greatly expand the registry of potential donors, and people who wouldn't have thought of donating before may reconsider when a real person's life is at stake.