Press Releases

Today, Representatives Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Carol Miller (WV-01), Brad Schneider (IL-10), and Larry Bucshon, M.D. (IN-08) led 47 of their colleagues in expressing their support for the newly proposed Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA) Model that aims to increase access to kidney transplants and reduce Medicare spending. In a bipartisan letter, the lawmakers also urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to increase support to living organ donors.

Every day, 17 Americans die waiting for an organ transplant. Most of these patients suffer from kidney failure and are going through grueling and expensive dialysis treatments to stay alive, which collectively cost Medicare more than $50 billion annually.

While the rate of deceased organ donation has improved in recent years, the rate of living donations has flatlined over the past two decades at around 6,000 per year, which is insufficient to meet the needs of the 100,000 Americans on the transplant waitlist.

“We are optimistic about the IOTA Model, yet we remain concerned that the model design does not include the specific waivers or incentivize the needed tools to increase living donations,” the lawmakers wrote to CMS.

The members recommend CMS add two critical policies to the IOTA Model to increase support for living kidney donors and increase the total number of donations:

1. Enable Medicare to reimburse donors for costs associated with donation; and
2. Fund transplant navigators to assist patients and donors wade through the complicated process of donation and transplant.

If added to the proposed model, these policies could improve patient outcomes and save lives.

“The leadership shown by this growing bipartisan coalition sends a clear signal that this crisis will only continue to grow if CMS does not advance essential policy changes to support kidney patients and living donors. KTC applauds Representatives DelBene, Bucshon, Miller, Schneider, all of the letter's signatories, and the entire Congressional Kidney Caucus for recognizing the critical role living donors play in our transplant system and for highlighting the need for comprehensive action to expand transplant access,” said Andrew Howard (MD, FACP), Co-Chair, Kidney Transplant Collaborative. “This includes addressing disparities in kidney transplantation and ensuring that living donors are fully supported throughout the process. The recommendations in this letter are vital to saving lives, and KTC looks forward to working with Congress, CMS, and other stakeholders to make them a reality.”

DelBene and Bucshon are Co-Chairs of the Congressional Kidney Caucus.

The full text of the letter can be found here.