Sponsors (4)
The bill expands and clarifies donor reimbursement and increases transparency to identify and fix shortfalls, but it also narrows some statutory program coverage and creates administrative, legal, and potential fiscal pressures that could delay or complicate implementation.
Donors of organs (including prospective living donors) will be eligible for reimbursement of qualifying expenses regardless of the recipient's income, reducing a financial barrier for people who might otherwise be unable to donate.
Patients and donors will receive clearer, regular information on whether grant programs reimbursed qualifying expenses and how many donors were under-reimbursed, and Congress/the public will get better data to identify shortfalls and authorize corrective funding or policy changes.
Improved transparency about reimbursement shortfalls increases the chance of faster corrective action so donors are not left with unreimbursed expenses.
State and local health agencies and hospitals may lose legal coverage or eligibility for certain activities because removing paragraph (3) narrows the statutory list, creating both reduced program scope and legal uncertainty that could delay implementation or funding decisions.
Repeating an existing prohibition in statute (duplicative text) could create ambiguity about whether new enforcement, restrictions, or funding changes are intended, producing confusion for hospitals and federal administrators.
Preparing, updating, and complying with the statutory changes (policy updates, new forms, staff training) will impose administrative and minor compliance costs on HHS and grantees.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Bars grant recipients from considering an organ recipient’s income when reimbursing living donors, fixes statutory wording, and requires HHS to report annually on reimbursement adequacy and shortfalls.
Introduced March 11, 2025 by Ben Ray Luján · Last progress March 11, 2025
Prohibits entities that administer federal organ-donor reimbursement grants from taking an organ recipient’s income into account when reimbursing a living donor for qualifying expenses, makes minor statutory wording and renumbering edits, and requires the Department of Health and Human Services to publish an annual report on whether grant funding in the prior fiscal year was adequate to fully reimburse donors. The annual report must estimate how many donors did not receive full reimbursement and the total dollar amount needed to make them whole.