Young, Colleagues Meet With HRSA, CMS Officials to Discuss Organ Transplant Modernization and Reform

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) issued a statement following a roundtable meeting held with Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Administrator Carole Johnson along with officials from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to discuss efforts to reform and modernize the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN).

“Today bipartisan senators attended a meeting with administration officials to discuss efforts to reform the OPTN on behalf of the thousands of American families waiting on an organ transplant. This meeting marks an important step forward as we partner with the administration and continue our efforts to improve the transplant system. Members pressed CMS and HRSA officials for a more coordinated, transparent, equitable and accountable system with robust enforcement. Administration officials also discussed the progress on implementing an OPTN modernization plan and offered support for the ‘Securing the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Act,’ which we will continue to push to pass before the contract process begins this fall. The cost of inaction is unacceptable, as 17 people die every day waiting for a life-saving transplant.”

In May, the senators introduced the Securing the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Act which builds on the initiative announced in March by HRSA to modernize the OPTN by breaking up the monopoly contract that has been used to run the network since 1986. A companion bill has been reported by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.