Senate introduces bill to revamp organ procurement process
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Key takeaways:
- Newly introduced legislation would allow federal officials to move forward with organ procurement system reforms.
- The changes would offer potential organ recipients more information while on the waitlist.
Members of the U.S. Senate have introduced legislation that will give federal officials the ability to revamp the organ procurement process, including offering more access to information about the national waitlist to potential recipients.
Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Charles Grassley, R-IA; Ben Cardin, D-Md.; Todd Young, R-Ind.; Bill Cassidy, R-La.; Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; Jerry Moran, R-Kan.; and Cory Booker, D-N.J., introduced S. 1668, the Securing the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Act on May 17. The legislation is a companion bill to House Bill 2544, introduced by Reps. Larry Bucshon, MD, R-Ind., and Robin Kelly, D-Ill., on April 10.
The House legislation would “allow for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to run a competitive process to choose from the best contractors for different national [Organ Procurement and Transplant Network] OPTN functions (eg, health [information technology] IT, logistics),” according to a press release. “A better-performing national OPTN will better serve patients across the country,” the legislators said in the release.
The intent of both bills is to give the HRSA, which issues the contract for the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network (OPTN) currently held by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the authority to move forward on reforms proposed by the agency in March. Those changes include introducing contract solicitations for multiple awards to manage and improve the OPTN; modernizing the IT infrastructure, install an OPTN board of directors independent of the contractor and develop a public dashboard of key measures accessible to individuals on the organ donor waitlist.
HRSA said it also plans to remove the cap on OPTN contracts and allow for more eligible contract entities.
Editor’s note: On May 26, 2023, the article was updated to clarify that HRSA does not directly manage the organ procurement system in the United States.
References:
- Reps. Kelly and Bucshon introduce bipartisan Securing the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Act. https://robinkelly.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/reps-kelly-and-bucshon-introduce-bipartisan-securing-us-organ. Published April 10, 2023. Accessed May 24, 2023.
- www.healio.com/news/nephrology/20230323/new-federal-initiative-aimed-at-revamping-organ-procurement-system
- A bill to improve the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, and for other purposes. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/1668/text?s=1&r=7. Accessed May 24, 2023.
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