Sponsors (22)
Prohibits disability‑based discrimination in organ transplant access and related services and requires reasonable modifications and supports for qualified individuals.
Official title: Prohibit discrimination on the basis of mental or physical disability in cases of organ transplants.
Introduced May 15, 2025 by Ashley Brooke Moody · Last progress May 15, 2025
The bill strengthens nondiscrimination protections and practical access for people with disabilities seeking organ transplants—likely improving equity and outcomes—while imposing added compliance, legal, and administrative burdens on providers and creating potential geographic variability in protections.
People with disabilities are explicitly covered and protected from being excluded from organ transplant lists or related services, creating a clearer nondiscrimination baseline.
Patients with disabilities who need transplants are more likely to get evaluated, listed, and receive transplant-related treatment (including postoperative care), which should improve survival and health outcomes.
Covered programs must provide reasonable modifications and auxiliary aids (including supported decision‑making) to help qualified patients meet pre- and post-transplant requirements and participate in care.
Hospitals and transplant programs will face increased compliance costs to provide auxiliary aids, reasonable modifications, and to revise criteria and processes to meet nondiscrimination requirements.
Tension between clinical judgment and nondiscrimination standards will raise litigation risk and disputes, which could slow allocation policy updates and create uncertainty for providers and patients.
Expedited OCR enforcement and prioritized complaint handling increases administrative and legal exposure for covered entities, adding staff time, compliance processes, and potential penalties.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits disability-based discrimination in organ transplantation and related services by entities that receive federal financial assistance or are public entities covered by the ADA. It requires reasonable modifications, auxiliary aids and services (including supported decision‑making), preserves confidentiality rules, and directs HHS OCR to prioritize complaints and report to Congress annually. The bill also amends organ allocation law to bar membership or medical allocation criteria that discriminate on the basis of disability and preserves existing federal and stronger state protections.