Permanent OPTN Fee Authority Act

This bill lets the Department of Health and Human Services charge registration fees to members of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) for each transplant candidate they put on the waiting list. The money can only be used to run the OPTN, and the department must post, each quarter, how much each member paid and what the fees support on the OPTN website. The funds go into HHS accounts and can be used only as approved by Congress.

It also updates service rules so the OPTN can use 24/7 phone or online systems, and it asks the network to consider creating a public dashboard with transplant numbers, types, and counts of organs that entered the system but were not transplanted, updated more often than once a year. A Government Accountability Office review of these activities is due within two years of the law taking effect.

• Who is affected: Members of the OPTN (such as organizations that list transplant candidates).
• What changes: HHS may collect per-candidate registration fees; fee use must be transparent; service can be by phone or IT; a public data dashboard is encouraged.
• When: Fee info must be posted quarterly; GAO review due within two years after enactment.