Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
OPTN finance chief: HHS now collects registration fees; listing fee raised to just over $1,000
Summary
At the town hall OPTN treasurer Dr. Alan Reid said HHS has taken over patient registration fee collection (transitioned in September 2026), the board approved a listing fee increase from $868 to just over $1,000, and the finance committee is prioritizing which policy projects move forward against available funds.
Dr. Alan Reid, OPTN treasurer, used the town hall to lay out the network’s evolving finance model and how it relates to modernization and policy prioritization.
Reid said that, under recent changes, the Health Resources and Services Administration began collecting patient registration fees in September 2026, improving transparency into both revenue and spending. "Starting in September of 2026 the collection seamlessly transitioned from the OPTN contractor to HHS," he said.
The treasurer noted the board recently approved an increase in the listing (registration) fee — which had not risen in more than four years — from $868 to a little over $1,000. The finance committee will recommend an annual fee to the board, which in turn forwards a recommendation to the HHS secretary for approval.
Reid described three budget buckets the OPTN now uses to set the registration fee: operational contracts (the core vendor costs), anticipated policy‑development costs (modeling, programming, and implementation for policy decisions), and a reserve contribution. He said the organization aims to rebuild a three‑month operating reserve over several years but does not plan to add to that reserve in FY27.
Reid also highlighted that federal appropriations played a larger role during the transition to cover cloud migration and in‑house data and analytics capacity, but the long‑term goal remains to fund operations primarily from registration fees.
"We need to figure out which policies we want to put into play, which ones can wait a little while," Reid said, describing a prioritization process that will consider patient impact, implementation complexity and cost.
