Chairman Comer Commends Secretary Kennedy’s Actions to Reform Organ Procurement System in Kentucky

Comer has called on HHS to strengthen oversight, transparency, and accountability for organ procurement organizations

WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) today commended U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for taking action to protect patients and hold organ procurement organizations accountable:

“Every patient and potential organ donor deserves to be treated with the highest standards of care, dignity, and respect. Secretary Kennedy’s investigation exposed horrifying failures in the organ procurement system that put vulnerable patients at risk, and I commend him for taking decisive action today to protect human life and hold organizations accountable. In 2021, I began to call on HHS and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to strengthen oversight, improve performance standards, and ensure failing organ procurement organizations are held accountable. The Biden Administration failed to provide the necessary leadership and allowed serious problems to persist. Secretary Kennedy is now delivering the transparency, accountability, and patient-first reforms this system desperately needs,” said Chairman Comer.

Background:

Chairman Comer has worked on a bipartisan basis to reform the nation’s organ procurement system. In March 2021, then-Ranking Member Comer joined congressional leaders in urging HHS to implement a final rule establishing objective performance standards, increasing transparency, and strengthening accountability for organ procurement organizations. In addition, he called on the Biden Administration in July 2021 to accelerate enforcement so deficient organizations could be held accountable before the 2026 decertification process.

In July 2024, Chairman Comer launched additional oversight of HHS and CMS after the Biden Administration failed to provide clear guidance for enforcing the rule. The Committee raised concerns about the merger of the underperforming Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates with the Cincinnati-based LifeCenter Organ Donor Network to form Network for Hope and questioned whether CMS was prepared to hold government-funded organ procurement organizations accountable.