Committee opens oversight hearing into organ procurement, seeks answers from CMS and transplant community

Unidentified Speaker (Moderator) opened an oversight hearing, saying the committee began requests for information last April and has received whistleblower responses alleging problems in organ procurement and placement. The presiding member praised the lifesaving role of organ procurement organizations (OPOs) while emphasizing that the committee intended to hold organizations accountable.

The moderator asked witnesses to help the panel identify where system fragility exists — ‘‘Is some of it at the hospital level? Is some of it at the advocacy level? Is it at the procurement organization level? Is it at the CMS level?’’ The speaker said the committee had reviewed testimonies and needed concrete examples to guide further investigation.

The presiding member also raised technical questions about allocation: committee staff have been reviewing different scoring models used for organ placement and the speaker asked whether differentials between lung and kidney scoring warranted revising the scoring system. The moderator asked witnesses to provide ‘‘tools’’ and stories that could inform possible changes.

The speaker reserved their own questions for the end of the hearing and then yielded to the ranking members to continue the session. No formal motions or votes were recorded during the opening remarks.

Background: The transcript notes the committee began sending requests for information the previous April (year not specified) and reported receiving reports from whistleblowers nationwide. The speaker identified the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as an agency tied to OPO certification and oversight.