A coalition of congressional leaders from the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform today urged the Biden administration to finalize a rule to reform the organ procurement system in the United States.
The letter, sent to Acting Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Norris Cochran was signed by Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Senators Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Todd Young, R-Ind.; House Committee on Oversight and Reform (COR) Committee Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney, D-N.Y., and Ranking Member James Comer, R-Ky.; House COR Economic and Consumer Policy Subcommittee Chair Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., and Ranking Member Michael Cloud, R-Texas.; House COR Member Congresswoman Katie Porter, D-Calif., and Congressman Tom Reed, R-N.Y., Co-Chair of the Diabetes Caucus.
The letter comes as the Biden administration has instituted a regulation freeze and agency-wide review of pending rules as a part of the transition process. The members noted since 2015, an average of more than 12,000 people died each year while waiting for a transplant or were removed from the waiting list due to becoming too sick to undergo transplantation.
The full letter can be found here.
