Organ transplant revamp brings mixed reviews

The House of Representatives is poised to pass changes to the organ transplant and procurement system this week.

• The bipartisan bill is on the House suspension calendar for this week. A bipartisan companion bill in the Senate has been referred to the HELP Committee.

Why it matters: A Senate Finance Committee investigation found significant issues with how the United Network for Organ Sharing runs the country’s organ procurement and transplant system.

• UNOS has run the system exclusively for more than 30 years.

How it works: The bill would explicitly give HHS the authority to solicit bids from multiple public and private entities to run the country's Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.

• Current law only permits HHS to contract with a non-profit entity in organ procurement and transplantation.

Yes, but: Some onlookers say the transplant system needs to remain under nonprofit control.

• "Continuous assessment and improvement is our goal. But that goal should not be compromised to the point that profit is the number one motive," Clive Callender, a transplant surgeon and founder of the National Minority Tissue Transplant Education Program, told Axios.
• Transplant recipient Patrick McGlone also sent a letter to lawmakers last week urging them to revise the House and Senate bills.
• "The inherent strength of an OPTN run by non-profits is that they have no other goals than to save as many lives as possible," McGlone, a UNOS ambassador, wrote in his letter.
• UNOS does not oppose the policy moving through Congress.