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1 1 (February 4, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/goveffm0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional .Research Service informing the legi ive debate since 1914___ Organ Transplant Candidacy and COVID-19 Vaccination Status February 4, 2022 A series of recent media reports have highlighted a current policy among at least some transplant centers to deny potential transplant patients the ability to be waitlisted for an organ due to COVID-19 vaccination status (see Business Insider, Washington Post, and Healthline). Transplant centers generally devise their own policies and consider both medical and nonmedical criteria when selecting potential candidates to add to the waitlist for an organ transplant (i.e., listing). Transplant centers can rule out a candidate when transplantation is not considered the best treatment option for the particular patient. However, the larger underlying issue in listing decisions is a lack of organ supply. The demand for organs far outweighs the available supply. For instance, in 2020, 91,099 individuals were in need of a kidney, while 22,817 kidneys were received. This lack of supply tends to be a key factor in the nationwide allocation of organs to ensure that organs go to individuals with the most need and to individuals who will ensure optimal stewardship of this scarce resource. All transplant centers are members of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), a program to coordinate organ allocation authorized by the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 (NOTA; P.L. 98-507, as amended) and administered through contract by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Multiple congressional committees have jurisdiction over the OPTN and oversee its activities. These include House Energy and Commerce and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Other committees also have jurisdiction over certain activities related to the OPTN, such as Senate Finance due to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' role in regulating members of the OPTN. This Insight provides background information on the organ donation and transplantation system, describes transplant center listing criteria, and outlines the current recommendations of relevant professional organizations. Background Organ donations and transplantations are coordinated through the OPTN, a nationwide network of all organizations (e.g., transplant centers, organ procurement organizations [OPOs], laboratories) involved in the process. OPTN is administered by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), a private Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11848 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress