ASN Calls on Congress for Increased Transplant Support

On April 18, leaders of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) met with Congress to request their support for an $8 million increase for the Health Resources and Services Administration Organ Transplantation Program in fiscal year 2025. With this increase, total funding for the program would total $67 million. The funds will support reforms to modernize the transplant system and make transplant care more accessible.

Congress unanimously passed the Securing the US Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) Act in 2023 to increase transparency, accountability, and competition in the management of the transplant network. In March 2024, Congress renewed its commitment to people seeking an organ transplant by providing $59 million (a $23 million increase) in the fiscal year 2024 funding bill to implement the reforms called for in the Securing the US OPTN Act.

“ASN is grateful for the leadership demonstrated by Congress and the administration in establishing long-needed reforms to the transplant system, and now is the time to double down on these improvements and ensure the US transplant system is more proficient in serving patients and their families,” said ASN President Deidra C. Crews, MD, ScM, FASN.

More than 100,000 Americans are currently awaiting an organ transplant, including more than 90,000 people waiting for a kidney. In 2023, the United States performed 27,000 kidney transplants, well short of meeting the needs of the thousands of people on the kidney transplant waiting list.