Bill Details
View committees (1)
View cosponsors (1)
AI Summary This summary was generated by AI from the bill text. AI can get information wrong.
This bill would let the Health and Human Services Secretary charge registration fees to members of the organ transplant network for each transplant candidate they place on the waiting list. The money could only be used to run the transplant network itself. The bill also asks the network to make better use of electronic health records, improve data sharing between hospitals and transplant groups, and consider a public dashboard with transplant statistics. It would require public reporting on how much money is collected and how it is spent, a Government Accountability Office review after two years, and it would end the fee authority after three years.
- Fees could be collected for each transplant candidate added to the national waiting list.
- The money must support only the operation of the organ transplant network.
- The network would be encouraged to use electronic health record systems and faster electronic referrals, while still protecting patient privacy.
- The Secretary would have to post fee amounts and uses on the network’s website, and the Government Accountability Office would review the program within two years.
Official Summaries
OPTN Fee Collection Authority Act
This bill authorizes the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), for three years, to collect registration fees directly from a member of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) (e.g., organ procurement organizations and transplant hospitals) for each transplant candidate the member places on the waiting list.
Registration fees for the OPTN were historically collected through a contractor. The bill authorizes HRSA, for three years following the bill’s enactment, to collect registration fees directly from OPTN members for each candidate they place on the list and distribute the fees to support the operation of the OPTN. HRSA must publish on the OPTN website the amount of fees collected from each member and their use.
The bill requires the Government Accountability Office to conduct a review relating to the registration fees and report to Congress within two years after the bill’s enactment.
Additionally, the bill supports (1) the integration of electronic health records systems into the OPTN, such as automated referrals and granting procurement organizations access to records of potential donors; and (2) the establishment of a dashboard to display statistics relating to the OPTN.
Current Full Text
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 532 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 532
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to collect
registration fees from members of the Organ Procurement and
Transplantation Network, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 12, 2025
Mr. Grassley (for himself and Mr. Cassidy) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to collect
registration fees from members of the Organ Procurement and
Transplantation Network, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``OPTN Fee Collection Authority Act''.
SEC. 2. ORGAN PROCUREMENT AND TRANSPLANTATION NETWORK.
Section 372 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 274) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (b)(2)--
(A) by moving the margins of subparagraphs (M)
through (O) 2 ems to the left;
(B) in subparagraph (A)--
(i) in clause (i), by striking ``, and''
and inserting ``; and''; and
(ii) in clause (ii), by striking the comma
at the end and inserting a semicolon;
(C) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``twenty-four-
hour telephone service'' and inserting ``24-hour
telephone or information technology service'';
(D) in each of subparagraphs (B) through (M), by
striking the comma at the end and inserting a
semicolon;
(E) in subparagraph (N), by striking
``transportation, and'' and inserting
``transportation;'';
(F) in subparagraph (O), by striking the period and
inserting a semicolon; and
(G) by adding at the end the following:
``(P) encourage the integration of electronic health
records systems through application programming interfaces (or
successor technologies) among hospitals, organ procurement
organizations, and transplant centers, including the use of
automated electronic hospital referrals and the grant of
remote, electronic access to hospital electronic health records
of potential donors by organ procurement organizations, in a
manner that complies with the privacy regulations promulgated
under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
of 1996, at part 160 of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations,
and subparts A, C, and E of part 164 of such title (or any
successor regulations); and
``(Q) consider establishing a dashboard to display the
number of transplants performed, the types of transplants
performed, the number and types of organs that entered the
Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network system and failed
to be transplanted, and other appropriate statistics, which
should be updated more frequently than annually.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(d) Registration Fees.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary may collect registration
fees from any member of the Organ Procurement and
Transplantation Network for each transplant candidate such
member places on the list described in subsection (b)(2)(A)(i).
Such registration fees shall be collected and distributed only
to support the operation of the Organ Procurement and
Transplantation Network. Such registration fees are authorized
to remain available until expended.
``(2) Collection.--The Secretary may collect the
registration fees under paragraph (1) directly or through
awards made under subsection (b)(1)(A).
``(3) Distribution.--Any amounts collected under this
subsection shall--
``(A) be credited to the currently applicable
appropriation, account, or fund of the Department of
Health and Human Services as discretionary offsetting
collections; and
``(B) be available, only to the extent and in the
amounts provided in advance in appropriations Acts, to
distribute such fees among awardees described in
subsection (b)(1)(A).
``(4) Transparency.--The Secretary shall--
``(A) promptly post on the website of the Organ
Procurement and Transplantation Network--
``(i) the amount of registration fees
collected under this subsection from each
member of the Organ Procurement and
Transplantation Network; and
``(ii) a list of activities such fees are
used to support; and
``(B) update the information posted pursuant to
subparagraph (A), as applicable for each calendar
quarter for which fees are collected under paragraph
(1).
``(5) GAO review.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this subsection, the Comptroller General of the
United States shall, to the extent data are available--
``(A) conduct a review concerning the activities
under this subsection; and
``(B) submit to the Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions and the Committee on Finance of the
Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the
House of Representatives, a report on such review,
including related recommendations, as applicable.
``(6) Sunset.--The authority to collect registration fees
under paragraph (1) shall expire on the date that is 3 years
after the date of enactment of the OPTN Fee Collection
Authority Act.''.
<all>