Fewer New Yorkers have signed up as organ donors than most Americans, prompting the state to seek help boosting enrollment and shortening its list of patients who die waiting.
A study from Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield shows 22 percent of New York adults in the donor registry, compared with 48 percent nationally.
The study also shows 539 New Yorkers died awaiting a transplant last year while others became too sick and ineligible.
Currently 8,667 people are on New York's list for a kidney and 1,352 for a liver, some waiting more than five years.
The Health Department is drafting a bid request for outside help expanding registration.
So far, 3.4 million adults statewide have indicated their intent or given legal consent to donate their organs after they die.
© 2014 AP