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Calling on Secretary Xavier Becerra and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to reconsider the implementation of a rule instituted by the prior administration that could upend our nation's system of organ procurement, particularly in communities of color, and to include the vast, specific needs of the organ transplant system in analyzing and improving the metrics and outcomes of organ procurement organizations.
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WHEREAS In 2021, the organ procurement and the transplant system set an all-time record of over 40,000 transplants, which represents yearly increases for over a decade in procurement and transplants in our nation; and
WHEREAS, On December 2, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) adopted a final rule entitled, "Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Organ Procurement Organizations Conditions for Coverage: Revisions to the Outcome Measure Requirements for Organ Procurement Organizations"; and
WHEREAS, After amendments following a public comment period, the regulations under this rule went into effect on February 21, 2021, except for amendment number 3, which goes into effect on July 31, 2022. The regulations will begin to be implemented on August 1, 2022; and
WHEREAS, According to the Federal Register, this rule "revises the Organ Procurement Organizations (OPOs) Conditions for Coverage (CfCs) to increase donation rates and organ transplantation rates by replacing the current outcome measures with new transparent, reliable, and objective outcome measures and increasing competition for open donation service areas (DSAs)"; and
WHEREAS, OPOs were created in 1984 under the National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA) to facilitate the national organ procurement and transplantation process. There are currently 57 OPOs nationwide, each with a DSA that can include part of a state, one state, or multiple states; and
WHEREAS, According to the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations, OPOs provide services that assist multiple st...
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