E&C oversight subcommittee to look at organ reform one year later

politicopro.com

September 12, 2024 3:22 am

There are more than 100,000 people awaiting an organ with a new person added to the list every eight minutes, according to HHS.

A congressional committee will review the overhauling of the U.S. transplant system a year after it was ordered in law.

The House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee will hold a hearing on Sept. 11, focusing on how successfully the federal government has implemented the law to reform the system.

Years of bipartisan congressional inquiry uncovered mismanagement in the organ transplant system, which has been run by a single nonprofit contractor since the 1980s.

Last September, President Joe Biden signed a law to decentralize the organ transplant network, restructuring the system into manageable parts. That allowed different entities to oversee certain functions of the system, and the appointment of a new board of directors. Just last week, the Biden administration awarded its first contract to a nonprofit to oversee the election of a new board of directors.

There are more than 100,000 people awaiting an organ with a new person added to the list every eight minutes, according to HHS. As POLITICO has reported, the reform has hit snags in recent months as members of Congress, the federal government and providers have sparred over oversight. Some of the questions revolved around how big a role the federal government should have and whether people who were involved in the previous setup should continue to work in the new one.

“Unfortunately, for years the organ transplant system has been hampered by inefficiencies, mismanagement, and risks to patient safety,” Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and subcommittee chair Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) said in a statement. “This hearing will provide an opportunity to hear from experts and stakeholders about how the law is being implemented and what challenges remain.”

Witnesses have not been announced.