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The Plasma Donation Public Health and Equity Act (Final Domain-Formatted Document)
Policy Brief Authored by: John Dady, CitizensAgainstTyranny.net
I. Introduction: The Current Detriment
It is Tuesday morning in Dayton, Ohio. Maria, a mother of two working a part-time job, arrives at a plasma donation center. She knows the process takes time—two hours of her day—but the \$80 stipend is essential. It will cover the gas she needs to drive to her job for the next two weeks.
She is on Medicaid, and her children rely on SNAP to ensure they have food when school is out. Maria is already aware of the rule: her combined annual income must not exceed the limit.
Over the course of the month, Maria makes just six donations, totaling \$480. This is enough to keep her car running and the lights on.
But this income is treated as a taxable cash payment. When she reports her annual earnings, the inclusion of that small, life-saving donation money pushes her total income \$150 over the annual Medicaid threshold.
Because of this punitive policy, Maria loses her family's Medicaid coverage, a benefit valued at thousands of dollars in annual preventative care and prescription costs. She is now uninsured, and the stability of her family is severely jeopardized—all because she contributed a desperately needed medical resource to the national supply.
The current law penalizes medical necessity and self-sufficiency. The compensation is not a substitute for essential benefits; it is a critical supplement that should not be weaponized against the working poor.
II. Core Statutory Language: The Legislative Fix
The purpose of this Act is to amend current federal law to eliminate a counterproductive public policy barrier. It establishes a clear statutory exemption that permanently excludes all compensation received for blood and plasma donation from counting as income for federal public assistance programs.
A. Amendment to the Social Security Act (for SSI and Non-MAGI Medicaid)
Amend Title XVI, Section 1612(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1382a(b)) to add the following to the list of Exclusions From Income:
"(24) Any amount received by an individual or eligible spouse as compensation for the donation of blood, blood plasma, or other blood components, if such compensation is received directly from a licensed blood or plasma collection facility."
B. Amendment to the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (for SNAP)
Amend Section 5(d) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014(d)) to add the following to the list of Income Exclusions:
"(22) Any amount received by an individual as compensation for the donation of blood, blood plasma, or other blood components, if such compensation is received directly from a licensed blood or plasma collection facility."
III. Cost/Benefit Analysis: Fiscal and Public Health Justification
A. The Policy Cost: Negligible Federal Revenue Loss
The financial cost of this exclusion is minimal and should not be a legislative obstacle.
The effective federal tax revenue generated from this income is an insignificant fraction of the overall federal budget.
This proposal is a targeted regulatory fix that costs the Treasury essentially nothing.
It reduces administrative burden on state-level benefit agencies by eliminating the need to track and adjust for this sporadic income source.
B. The Policy Benefit: Public Health and Fiscal Responsibility
The benefits of the exclusion far outweigh the negligible cost, delivering two major returns:
Public Health Stabilization (National Resource): The current policy actively disincentivizes a reliable donor pool. This exclusion stabilizes the donor base without forcing citizens to sacrifice their health coverage, securing the supply of life-saving therapeutics.
Fiscal and Social Savings (Reduced Churn): Losing benefits due to a small income overage ("churn") results in higher public costs (e.g., costly emergency room services). Stabilizing low-income access to Medicaid through this exclusion is a cost avoidance measure.
IV. Refutation of Anticipated Opposition
Contradiction with Federal Work Goals: Federal policy increasingly mandates work or contribution activities for benefit recipients to promote self-sufficiency. Compensated plasma donation is a structured, regulated activity with a time commitment. To count this income against benefits while simultaneously imposing work or contribution requirements is legislatively inconsistent and fundamentally dishonest.
"This Encourages the Exploitation of the Poor." The current policy is the true exploitation. This compensation is for the donor's time and effort, not the sale of a body part. The exclusion removes the barrier to contributing a vital public resource.
"This is a Loophole for Income Generation." Income is Medically Restricted and Capped. The total, medically-possible annual income from plasma is too low to ever replace or subsidize full-time employment. The exclusion acknowledges the income’s sporadic and supplemental nature.
"Why Should This Income Be Special?" Plasma Donation is a Medically Necessary Public Good. It is payment for participation in a specific, regulated medical procedure essential for the nation's health, aligning with existing statutory exemptions for public welfare.
V. Conclusion and Call to Action
The current policy—which classifies compensation for life-saving plasma donation as countable income for public assistance programs—is fiscally short-sighted, socially punitive, and medically irresponsible. Furthermore, this policy stands in direct contradiction to federal goals of promoting contribution and self-sufficiency by penalizing an activity that achieves both.
CitizensAgainstTyranny.net, led by John Dady, demands the immediate passage of the Plasma Donation Public Health and Equity Act, amending the Social Security Act and the Food and Nutrition Act to establish a permanent and explicit statutory exclusion for all compensation received from licensed plasma and blood donation facilities.
This targeted legislative fix is a rare opportunity to achieve a triple victory:
Strengthen Public Health: By stabilizing the national supply of essential plasma products.
Ensure Fiscal Responsibility: By avoiding the higher public costs associated with benefit churn.
Uphold Equity: By eliminating the penalty imposed on the working poor who provide a critical public good.
The government must cease penalizing citizens for providing a critical public good.
The Plasma Donation Public Health and Equity Act (Final Domain-Formatted Document)
Policy Brief Authored by: John Dady, CitizensAgainstTyranny.net
I. Introduction: The Current Detriment
It is Tuesday morning in Dayton, Ohio. Maria, a mother of two working a part-time job, arrives at a plasma donation center. She knows the process takes time—two hours of her day—but the \$80 stipend is essential. It will cover the gas she needs to drive to her job for the next two weeks.
She is on Medicaid, and her children rely on SNAP to ensure they have food when school is out. Maria is already aware of the rule: her combined annual income must not exceed the limit.
Over the course of the month, Maria makes just six donations, totaling \$480. This is enough to keep her car running and the lights on.
But this income is treated as a taxable cash payment. When she reports her annual earnings, the inclusion of that small, life-saving donation money pushes her total income \$150 over the annual Medicaid threshold.
Because of this punitive policy, Maria loses her family's Medicaid coverage, a benefit valued at thousands of dollars in annual preventative care and prescription costs. She is now uninsured, and the stability of her family is severely jeopardized—all because she contributed a desperately needed medical resource to the national supply.
The current law penalizes medical necessity and self-sufficiency. The compensation is not a substitute for essential benefits; it is a critical supplement that should not be weaponized against the working poor.
II. Core Statutory Language: The Legislative Fix
The purpose of this Act is to amend current federal law to eliminate a counterproductive public policy barrier. It establishes a clear statutory exemption that permanently excludes all compensation received for blood and plasma donation from counting as income for federal public assistance programs.
A. Amendment to the Social Security Act (for SSI and Non-MAGI Medicaid)
Amend Title XVI, Section 1612(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1382a(b)) to add the following to the list of Exclusions From Income:
"(24) Any amount received by an individual or eligible spouse as compensation for the donation of blood, blood plasma, or other blood components, if such compensation is received directly from a licensed blood or plasma collection facility."
B. Amendment to the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (for SNAP)
Amend Section 5(d) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014(d)) to add the following to the list of Income Exclusions:
"(22) Any amount received by an individual as compensation for the donation of blood, blood plasma, or other blood components, if such compensation is received directly from a licensed blood or plasma collection facility."
III. Cost/Benefit Analysis: Fiscal and Public Health Justification
A. The Policy Cost: Negligible Federal Revenue Loss
The financial cost of this exclusion is minimal and should not be a legislative obstacle.
The effective federal tax revenue generated from this income is an insignificant fraction of the overall federal budget.
This proposal is a targeted regulatory fix that costs the Treasury essentially nothing.
It reduces administrative burden on state-level benefit agencies by eliminating the need to track and adjust for this sporadic income source.
B. The Policy Benefit: Public Health and Fiscal Responsibility
The benefits of the exclusion far outweigh the negligible cost, delivering two major returns:
Public Health Stabilization (National Resource): The current policy actively disincentivizes a reliable donor pool. This exclusion stabilizes the donor base without forcing citizens to sacrifice their health coverage, securing the supply of life-saving therapeutics.
Fiscal and Social Savings (Reduced Churn): Losing benefits due to a small income overage ("churn") results in higher public costs (e.g., costly emergency room services). Stabilizing low-income access to Medicaid through this exclusion is a cost avoidance measure.
IV. Refutation of Anticipated Opposition
Contradiction with Federal Work Goals: Federal policy increasingly mandates work or contribution activities for benefit recipients to promote self-sufficiency. Compensated plasma donation is a structured, regulated activity with a time commitment. To count this income against benefits while simultaneously imposing work or contribution requirements is legislatively inconsistent and fundamentally dishonest.
"This Encourages the Exploitation of the Poor." The current policy is the true exploitation. This compensation is for the donor's time and effort, not the sale of a body part. The exclusion removes the barrier to contributing a vital public resource.
"This is a Loophole for Income Generation." Income is Medically Restricted and Capped. The total, medically-possible annual income from plasma is too low to ever replace or subsidize full-time employment. The exclusion acknowledges the income’s sporadic and supplemental nature.
"Why Should This Income Be Special?" Plasma Donation is a Medically Necessary Public Good. It is payment for participation in a specific, regulated medical procedure essential for the nation's health, aligning with existing statutory exemptions for public welfare.
V. Conclusion and Call to Action
The current policy—which classifies compensation for life-saving plasma donation as countable income for public assistance programs—is fiscally short-sighted, socially punitive, and medically irresponsible. Furthermore, this policy stands in direct contradiction to federal goals of promoting contribution and self-sufficiency by penalizing an activity that achieves both.
CitizensAgainstTyranny.net, led by John Dady, demands the immediate passage of the Plasma Donation Public Health and Equity Act, amending the Social Security Act and the Food and Nutrition Act to establish a permanent and explicit statutory exclusion for all compensation received from licensed plasma and blood donation facilities.
This targeted legislative fix is a rare opportunity to achieve a triple victory:
Strengthen Public Health: By stabilizing the national supply of essential plasma products.
Ensure Fiscal Responsibility: By avoiding the higher public costs associated with benefit churn.
Uphold Equity: By eliminating the penalty imposed on the working poor who provide a critical public good.
The government must cease penalizing citizens for providing a critical public good.
