Sponsors (4)
The bill improves donor access to reimbursement and makes program performance more transparent, but it introduces administrative costs and legal uncertainty and may narrow coverage for some public-health activities, possibly creating pressure for additional taxpayer funding.
Organ donors (and patients who need transplants) will be eligible for reimbursement of qualifying expenses regardless of the transplant recipient's income, reducing a barrier to donation and making donation less financially risky for low-income donors.
Grant recipients, patients, and Congress will get clearer, more detailed reporting on whether grant programs reimbursed qualifying expenses and how many recipients remain under-reimbursed, enabling faster corrective action and better-informed decisions about additional funding.
Fixing and clarifying internal statutory cross-references reduces legal confusion and helps HHS and grantees administer the reimbursement program more consistently.
Removing paragraph (3) from the referenced statute may narrow or exclude some public health programs or authorities, potentially reducing legal coverage or eligibility for certain activities at the state and local level.
The statutory change could create legal uncertainty for agencies and recipients until courts or agencies interpret the narrowed list, delaying program implementation or funding decisions for state/local agencies and health systems.
Implementing the revisions (policy updates, new forms, training) and preparing/publishing more detailed annual reports will impose additional administrative and compliance costs on HHS and grant recipients.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Bars grant-funded programs from considering an organ recipient's income when reimbursing living donors and requires annual HHS reporting on reimbursement shortfalls.
Official title: Amend the Public Health Service Act to eliminate consideration of the income of organ recipients in providing reimbursement of expenses to donating individuals, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 11, 2025 by Ben Ray Luján · Last progress March 11, 2025
Prohibits federal grant recipients from denying or reducing reimbursement to living organ donors based on the income of the organ recipient, clarifies internal statutory numbering, and requires the HHS Secretary to publish an annual report estimating how many donors did not receive full reimbursement and the dollar amount needed to fully reimburse them for the prior fiscal year. Also makes minor technical edits to the statutory list language to adjust punctuation and connectors.