The Biden administration aims to break up the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) monopoly on the national organ transplant system to introduce competition and improve patient care. The UNOS has been responsible for the organ retrieval groups, organ distribution policies, and matching organs with patients for almost four decades. The new system will divide these duties among multiple groups, with the government aiming to modernize organ-matching technology and improve accountability in the transplant system. To increase transparency in UNOS, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra has pledged to require transparency and end confidentiality, which has shielded the organization from revealing its operations. However, the proposed changes do not address some of the toughest problems that the system faces, such as hospitals often declining to use organs that could help the right patient. HRSA has taken the first steps to translate the government’s data on organ donation and transplantation into an easier-to-understand website for patients and their families to help them decide how to pursue care. The Biden administration has also asked Congress to more than double HRSA’s funding for transplant oversight to $67 million next year.
Biden Administration to Revamp National Organ Transplant System
The Biden administration plans to modernize the national organ transplant system by breaking up the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the nonprofit organization that has been running the system for almost four decades. With record-high numbers of transplants, over 42,000, performed last year alone, demand for new organs far outweighs supply. Currently, over 100,000 patients are waiting for an organ transplant and many die before receiving one. Critics have long called for a reformation of the system to save more lives.
The UNOS is responsible for overseeing the organ retrieval groups, setting policies for organ distribution, and running the complex computer system that matches organs with patients. Under the new plan, the government will divide these duties among multiple groups, putting an end to the UNOS monopoly. Although the details of how this will work are unclear, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will issue bids for new contracts in the fall.
Modernizing the organ-matching technology and ensuring accountability in the transplant system is a top priority for the government. The new system will introduce competition and the best-in-class transplant functions to improve patient care, according to HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson. The boards that set organ policies will also have greater independence.
HRSA has taken the first steps to translate the government’s data on organ donation and transplantation into an easier-to-understand website for patients and their families, to help them decide how to pursue care. The Biden administration has also asked Congress to more than double HRSA’s funding for transplant oversight, to $67 million next year.
However, the proposed changes do not address some of the tougher problems that the system faces, such as the fact that potentially usable organs are not retrieved from would-be donors or that hospitals often decline to use organs that could help the right patient. Last year, an influential science panel urged the government to set performance goals to address these and other challenges.
In response to the announcement, the UNOS released a statement saying that it is committed to working with the government and that it has the experience and expertise required to best serve the nation’s patients and help implement HRSA’s proposed initiatives.
Overall, the Biden administration’s proposed revamp of the national organ transplant system aims to save more lives and improve accountability in the complex system. The plan to end the UNOS monopoly and divide the system’s duties among multiple groups will introduce competition and best-in-class transplant functions to improve patient care.
Health Secretary pledges to increase transparency in UNOS
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra has promised to increase transparency in the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) during a hearing with senators. Becerra stated that “we’re going to require transparency…They can’t hide behind confidentiality and say, ‘We can’t show you what’s gone on.'” The UNOS is currently responsible for running the national organ transplant system, but the Biden administration plans to break up the organization and divide its duties among multiple groups as part of a broader modernization effort.
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