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Association Comments on Proposed Organ Transplant Model

July 15, 2024
Faridat Animashaun

In a July 9 letter, America’s Essential Hospitals thanked the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for its efforts to improve transplant care through the proposed Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA) Model and urged the agency to consider essential hospitals’ unique role in providing transplant care for underserved populations.

The proposed mandatory model aims to increase access to kidney transplants for individuals living with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), improve the quality of kidney transplant care, reduce disparities among kidney transplant patients, and increase the efficiency of selected transplant hospitals.

The association thanked the agency its focus on chronic conditions, such as ESRD, and recommended that CMS:

  • Adopt a voluntary framework for the model
  • Introduce a dedicated, upside risk–only track for safety net providers in the model
  • Provide up-front funding for essential hospitals participating in the model

Contact Director of Policy Rob Nelb at rnelb@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 with questions.

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