By: Julia Mueller
https://thehill.com/author/julia-mueller/
The Biden administration on Wednesday announced it aims to overhaul and modernize the organ transplant system in the U.S. with a plan that includes breaking up the monopoly power that has run the system for decades.
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency under the Department of Health and Human Services, released a set of actions it plans to take as part of a broader modernization effort for the organ transplant system. As part of the plan, HRSA says it will solicit multiple contracts to manage the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) “in order to foster competition.”
Right now, the nonprofit United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) is the only group contracted by the government to run the system, and it has come under criticism over its management of the massive system that allocates organs to patients.
UNOS on Wednesday said in a statement that it supports the HRSA’s plan to revamp the organ transplant system and is committed to working with the HHS and HRSA on the efforts.
The HRSA plan also includes rolling out data dashboards to provide more information on organ donation and transplant and modernizing the agency’s IT system.
President Biden’s budget proposal for the fiscal 2024 suggested more than doubling the funding for organ procurement and transplantation to $67 million next year, according to the release, and requested that Congress make updates the National Organ Transplant Act.
https://www.myhighplains.com/hill-politics/biden-administration-plans-to-break-up-monopoly-power-of-u-s-organ-transplant-system/