Sponsors (3)
Introduced February 13, 2026 by Nicole Malliotakis · Last progress February 13, 2026
The bill aims to increase living-donor kidney transplants and improve patient outcomes by funding facilitator training at transplant hospitals, but it does so by adding Medicare spending, limiting participation to existing transplant centers (which may leave rural areas underserved), and creating governance/oversight risks due to waiver authority and delayed reporting.
Medicare beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) could get more living-donor kidney transplants, shortening time on dialysis, improving health outcomes, and potentially lowering Medicare dialysis spending.
Hospitals that operate kidney transplant programs will receive direct reimbursement for facilitator training program costs, reducing financial barriers to running these programs.
Creation of a trained facilitator workforce helps patients navigate living donation, which can improve access and equity for people seeking transplants.
Taxpayers and Medicare would incur new program spending to reimburse hospitals for training costs over the demonstration period, increasing federal outlays.
Limiting participation to hospitals that already perform kidney transplants may exclude smaller or rural hospitals, reducing geographic access to facilitator services for rural patients.
Waiver authority and a six-year delay before initial reporting create governance and oversight risks—allowing variability from standard Medicare rules and leaving Congress and the public without near-term evidence on effectiveness.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates an 8‑year Medicare demonstration to reimburse hospitals for reasonable costs of training living kidney donor transplant facilitators, with reporting requirements.
Creates an 8-year Medicare demonstration program that pays hospitals for the reasonable costs of running training programs for living kidney donor transplant facilitators. HHS must set up the program within 180 days, may limit participation to hospitals that perform kidney transplants, may waive Medicare rules as needed, and must report results to specified congressional committees with an initial report at year 6 and two annual updates.