UnitedHealthcare will cover travel costs for kidney donors

The program could pay for itself because a kidney transplant can help avoid the expense of dialysis treatments and hospital visits that can cost up to $250,000 in a year, said Dr. Jon Friedman, a chief medical officer with the Optum division of parent company UnitedHealth Group. A kidney transplant and a year of follow-up care, meanwhile, cost about $150,000 or less, he said.