Southern West Virginia News

Today, Congresswoman Carol Miller (R-WV) and Representatives Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Brad Schneider (D-IL), and Larry Bucshon, M.D. (R-IN) led 43 of their colleagues in expressing support for the newly proposed Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA) Model. This model aims to increase access to kidney transplants and reduce Medicare spending. In a bipartisan letter, the lawmakers also urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to increase support for living organ donors.

The members recommend CMS add two critical policies to the IOTA Model to increase support for living kidney donors and increase the total number of donations. The two policies include enabling Medicare to reimburse donors for costs associated with donation and funding transplant navigators to assist patients and donors through the complicated process of donation and transplant.

If added to the proposed model, these policies could improve patient outcomes and save lives.

“We are optimistic about the IOTA Model, yet we remain concerned that the model design does not include the specific waivers or incentivize the needed tools to increase living donations,” said the lawmakers.

Andrew Howard (MD, FACP), Co-Chair of Kidney Transplant Collaborative, stated: “The leadership shown by this growing bipartisan coalition sends a clear signal that this crisis will only continue to grow if CMS does not advance essential policy changes to support kidney patients and living donors. KTC applauds Representatives DelBene, Bucshon, Miller, Schneider, all of the letter's signatories, and the entire Congressional Kidney Caucus for recognizing the critical role living donors play in our transplant system and for highlighting the need for comprehensive action to expand transplant access. This includes addressing disparities in kidney transplantation and ensuring that living donors are fully supported throughout the process. The recommendations in this letter are vital to saving lives, and KTC looks forward to working with Congress, CMS, and other stakeholders to make them a reality.”

Every day, 17 Americans die waiting for an organ transplant. Most of these patients suffer from kidney failure and undergo grueling dialysis treatments which collectively cost Medicare more than $50 billion annually. While deceased organ donation rates have improved recently, living donations have stagnated at around 6,000 per year over two decades—insufficient for meeting the needs of 100,000 Americans on the transplant waitlist.

For more details on this initiative, click here for the full letter.