Grassley, Cassidy Bill to Ensure Viability of Organ Transplant Reforms is Signed into Law

Grassley, Cassidy Bill to Ensure Viability of Organ Transplant Reforms is Signed into Law

WASHINGTON- The OPTN Fee Collection Authority Act from Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) today became law as part of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 funding package signed by President Trump. The law enables the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)'s continued implementation of Grassley's life-saving reforms to the U.S. organ transplant system.

"America's organ transplant system must operate safely and efficiently. People's lives are hanging in the balance. I've been closely following HRSA's implementation of the reforms I spearheaded to update our failing organ transplant system. I'm glad Congress passed this key measure to ensure HRSA has the tools it needs to implement the law as Congress intended,"Grassley said.

"Continuing our efforts to reform the U.S. organ transplant system is vital to saving lives," Cassidy said. "This legislation takes additional steps to improve the system and ensure more Americans can access lifesaving organs."

Background:

OPTN is a federal program, founded in 1984 and housed under the Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), that is responsible for coordinating all organ donations and transplants nationwide. For 40 years, the OPTN was operated by a single, deficient contractor - the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).

Grassley in 2023 authored and passed a bipartisan law to break up the OPTN contract, resulting in the first competitive bidding process for OPTN contracts in the program's nearly half-a-century history. Previously, UNOS, as the sole OPTN contractor, collected all OPTN registration fees from Organ Procurement Organizations, transplant hospitals and other member institutions. The Grassley-Cassidy legislation provides HRSA explicit legal authority to collect these fees, rooting out UNOS' and any other contractors' undue influence and safeguarding the revamped program's operation. The bill also mandates a Government Accountability Office report to Congress within two years of the bill's passage.

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