Children's Organ Transplant Association Facts

The Children's Organ Transplant Association (COTA) is a national charity based in Bloomington, Indiana, which is dedicated to organizing and guiding families and communities in raising funds for transplant-needy patients. COTA's priority is to assure that no child or young adult is denied a transplant or excluded from a transplant waiting list due to lack of funds. 100% of all funds raised are used for transplant-related expenses.

• Founded in 1968 after a group of Bloomington, Indiana, volunteers helped raise funds to place a child on the liver transplant waiting list.
• COTA has helped more than 1,000 children and adults and has raised more than $40 million.
• Since 1986, more than 550 COTA patients have been successfully transplanted.
• In 2005, more than 70 COTA patients were successfully transplanted and nearly $5.5 million was raised.
• COTA does not charge any patient for its services.
• Every dollar raised in honor of COTA's patients is used for transplant-related expenses.
• COTA funds are available for the patient's life for almost any transplant-related expense.
• In addition to children, COTA works with adults with genetic diseases such as Cystic Fibrosis. In 2005, 95%of COTA patients were under the age of 21.
• Nearly 80% of COTA's patients are referred to COTA by a social worker, financial coordinator or transplant coordinator at a transplant center.
• Since 1986, COTA volunteers and staff have distributed more than 2 million organ donation registration cards. COTA works in partnership with the Coalition on Donation, the Indiana Donation Alliance Foundation, the American Legion Child Welfare Foundation and the Kiwanis to incrase the organ donation rate.

Find out more about COTA at www.cota.org or call 800.366.2682.

Transplant and Organ Donation Facts

• More than 90,000 U.S. patients are currently waiting for solid organ transplants, with up to 100,000 more searching for a cord blook, marrow or stem cell match.
• Each day, about 74 people receive an organ transplant. Each day, 17 people die waiting for an organ transplant.
• First U.S. organ transplant - 1954 at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital - kidney was transplanted from one twin to another.
• Currently there are 58 organ procurement organizations in the U.S. that provide organ procurement services to 261 transplant centers.
• Donor organs are matched to waiting recipients by a national computer registry called the National Organ Procurement adn Transplantation Network (OPTN). This computer registry is operatd by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) in Richmond, Virginia, which was chartered by Congress to provide this service.
• The cost of organ transplants varies greatly, not only with the type of transplant, but also with the hospital where the procedure occurs. Typical organ transplant costs (not including pre-transplant or follow-up treatments) are: kidney, pancreas or small bowel $125,000; liver $300,000; lungs $300,000; heart $350,000; bone marrow, stem cell and cord blood transplants $150,000-$500,000 each.
• Hospitals require that a patient be able to show proof of payment BEFORE the patient is place don a transplant waiting list. Typical insurance plans will pay 80% of the "normal and customary" expenses incurred for the procedure. That means that for a $300,000 liver transplant, the patient will likely be responsible for a $60,000 deductible PLUS other related expenses such as temporary housing while the patient is hospitalized, transporation for pre-and post-transplant care, medications, etc. The lifetime total can easily exceed $1 million.

Donate Now

Visit www.cota.org – Select "Patient Campaigns;" then select initial: "D" for Dyamond Ott’s campaign.

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