Policy Priority
LOVE Act
The Living Organ Volunteer Engagement (LOVE) Act
The LOVE Act will increase living kidney donors and save countless lives by creating a comprehensive national living organ donor support system consisting of three building blocks.
Kidney Transplant Navigators
Provide kidney transplant navigators for both transplant recipients and donors, building on the new Medicare “patient illness navigator” program.
Make Cost Reimbursement for Living Kidney Donors a Priority
Clarify existing statute ensuring living kidney donors are entitled to appropriate cost reimbursement, building on existing law that already instructs Medicare to cover all “reasonable expenses” for living donors.
Create a National Living Donor Education Program
Adopt a national living donor education program that will not only save lives but save billions of dollars for the Medicare program.
LOVE Act Materials
THE CRISIS IS REAL
0
Daily Deaths
96000
Kidney Transplant Waitlist
ACT TODAY!
Urge your Congressional Leaders to Support the LOVE Act!
Cost Reimbursement Legislative Priorities:
KTC will work to support and advance the Organ Donation Clarification Act of 2023 and find solutions to help cover donors’ costs to increase living donation rates.
Every effort should be made to make living donation financially neutral. In 2020, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) modestly increased living donor expense reimbursements to help cover external costs associated with lost wages and dependent care due to kidney donation. Unfortunately, this only applies to individuals with income below 350% of the federal poverty level (the prior threshold was 300%). Studies have demonstrated that covering donors’ costs will lead to an increase in living donation rates.
KTC will work with other stakeholders to advance H.R. 4343, the “Organ Donation Clarification Act of 2023” introduced by Representative Doris O. Matsui (D-CA) and Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC). The legislation will clarify the law by authorizing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to do the following:
– Identify which costs are not “compensation,”
– Eliminate recipient income from consideration of donor reimbursement, and
– Create a five-year government pilot program to model donor payments
By clarifying the law and empowering the HHS Secretary to create the pilot program, the legislation will ensure that living donors are not burdened with unnecessary expenses due to their altruistic decisions.
Resources
Comment Letters
Supporting Kidney Transplant Policy Change
KTC Comment Letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMMI)
July 15, 2024
Medicare Program; Alternative Payment Model Updates and the Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA)
Stakeholder Letter to Rep. Beth Van Duyne
October 30, 2023
Supporting the Saving Organs One Flight at a Time Act (H.R. 4362)
Stakeholder Letter to Sens. Wyden, Grassley, Cardin, Young, Cassidy, Warren, Moran, and Booker
May 24, 2023
Supporting the introduction of the Securing the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Act (H.R. 2544)
Stakeholder Letter to Rep. Larry Bucshon and Rep. Robin Kelly
May 1, 2023
Supporting the introduction of the Securing the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Act (H.R. 2544)
KTC Comment Letter to OPTN and HHS
March 15, 2023
Comments on OPTN’s proposal to reform its organ distribution policies and adopt the proposed Continuous Distribution of Kidneys and Pancreata Committee Update
KTC Comment Letter to The Honorable Chi Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Department of Health and Human Services
February 1, 2022
Request for Information, Health and Safety Requirements for Transplant Programs, Organ Procurement Organizations and an End-Stage Renal Disease Facilities.
KTC Comment Letter to Health Resources and Services Administration
May 9, 2022
Request for Information by the Health Resources and Services Administration regarding the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN).