Urges U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to reconsider implementation of new rules concerning organ procurement organizations.
The proposed CMS rules have raised alarms regarding their potential negative effects on both local organ procurement systems and national transplantation rates. The New Jersey General Assembly emphasizes that existing OPOs are already reliable and effective in their roles, contributing to a significant increase in organ transplants over the years. By enforcing competitive bidding and decertifying lower-performing OPOs, these rules might lead to a fragmentation of services, increasing geographical burdens and ultimately reducing organ availability for patients awaiting transplants, particularly those from marginalized communities.
Assembly Resolution No. 146, introduced in New Jersey, calls for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to reconsider new rules regarding organ procurement organizations (OPOs). These new federal regulations aim to revise performance outcome measures and implement competitive bidding for OPOs, which are vital entities in managing organ donation and transplantation. The resolution highlights concerns that the hastily adopted rules could disrupt the current organ procurement system, potentially decreasing the number of organ transplants performed in the United States.
Opponents of the new CMS regulations, including advocates for health equity, argue that the changes may exacerbate existing disparities in organ transplantation. Statistics indicate that patients from racial and ethnic minorities receive organ transplants at significantly lower rates compared to their white counterparts. Critics point out that rather than aiding improvements in performance through decertification, a more supportive approach for underperforming OPOs could be beneficial. Many believe that focusing on competitive bidding could distract OPOs from their core mission of improving donation rates and managing relationships within donor service areas.