DATE: October 30, 2024

Washington, D.C. – October 30, 2024 — The Kidney Transplant Collaborative (KTC) expresses disappointment in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) delay in implementing the Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA) Model. his delay comes at a time when patients living with kidney disease are facing an urgent crisis, one that directly impacts their survival and quality of life.

The IOTA Model represents a critical step toward increasing access to life-saving kidney transplants for patients nationwide. It is designed to enhance the transplant system, making it more efficient and effective, and to ensure that more kidneys reach the patients who need them most. Beyond saving lives, this model would also help reduce Medicare expenditures, alleviating financial pressures on the healthcare system while delivering better care to those who are most vulnerable.

KTC just released a new analysis of kidney waitlist data across the United States, which underscores a critical and growing challenge facing the healthcare system: a dramatic increase in the number of individuals waiting for a kidney transplant, specially in key presidential swing states.

About the Kidney Transplant Collaborative
The Kidney Transplant Collaborative (KTC) is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing kidney transplants and removing financial and logistical barriers for kidney patients, donors, and their families. Unlike other initiatives, KTC is specifically focused on increasing the number of living donor transplants in the United States through policy advocacy, education, and community organizing. For more details, visit www.kidneytransplantcollaborative.com.