We know that the people of Pennsylvania are encouraged by the recovery of Daniel Canal, a 13-year old Maryland boy who received a multiple organ transplant in Miami with organs donated by a generous family in Pennsylvania. I believe in my heart that organ donation is likely to be increased, not decrease, as the general public learns of more events such as this. The sharing of the gift of life across state lines brings us together as Americans by breaking down the geographic boundaries of states, and OPOs. These groups know better than others how the public feels concerning organ allocation. Patient Travel Critics of the HHS regulation claim that it will lead to greater patient travel.
Patient travel is already a part of the transplant system.
Indeed, equalizing waiting times will remove one of the several incentives for patients to travel to a distant center. For 46 percent of the population, including the residents of the 14 states without a liver transplant center, travel is a necessity. Finally, when you consider that 32 percent of Louisiana patients and 28 percent of Oklahoma patients, according to the 1994 and 1995 data, travel elsewhere for their transplants you have to wonder if their recently enacted state laws on organ allocation truly benefit all the residents of those states. Critics also content that Medicaid beneficiaries will be hurt by these regulations because of patient travel concerns. This is ludicrous.