I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6458 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend the national 
organ transplantation procurement program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 19, 2018 
Mr. RICE of South Carolina introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend 
the national organ transplantation procurement program. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Organ Trans-
plant Act Amendments of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. ORGAN PROCUREMENT AND TRANSPLANTATION 
NETWORK. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 372(b) of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 274(b)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)(B)— 
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(A) by redesignating clauses (i) and (ii) as 
clauses (ii) and (iii), respectively; 
(B) by inserting before clause (ii) (as so 
redesignated) the following new clause: 
‘‘(i) that is elected in a transparent 
process with voting representatives from 
across the United States and from all key 
constituencies within the transplant com-
munity;’’; and 
(C) in clause (iii) (as so redesignated), by 
inserting before ‘‘whose chairpersons’’ the fol-
lowing: ‘‘through the election process described 
in clause (i),’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
(A), by striking ‘‘Network shall’’ and inserting 
the following: ‘‘Network’s primary goal shall be 
to increase the number of successful transplants 
by establishing policies, collecting data, and 
conducting studies and demonstrations to’’; 
(B) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 
through (J) as subparagraphs (P) through (Y), 
respectively; 
(C) by striking subparagraph (K); 
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(D) by redesignating subparagraphs (L), 
(M), (N), and (O) as subparagraphs (Z), (AA), 
(CC), and (DD), respectively; 
(E) by inserting before subparagraph (P) 
(as so redesignated) the following: 
‘‘(A) increase organ donation by— 
‘‘(i) working actively to increase the supply 
of donated organs, 
‘‘(ii) providing information to physicians 
and other health professionals regarding organ 
donation, 
‘‘(iii) establishing a process and procedures 
for adopting best practices in organ donation, 
and 
‘‘(iv) establishing processes, procedures, 
and requirements for continuing education for 
transplant community personnel to implement 
best practices, 
‘‘(B) increase access to transplantation for un-
derserved minorities, 
‘‘(C) reduce barriers to transplantation based 
on socio-economic status, 
‘‘(D) increase access to transplantation for chil-
dren, 
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‘‘(E) promote innovation in transplantation 
science, 
‘‘(F) promote innovation in organ donation and 
allocation, 
‘‘(G) increase organ utilization and reduce 
organ discards by eliminating transplant policies and 
regulations that encourage transplant centers to 
avoid the use of certain organs, 
‘‘(H) reward local communities for donation ef-
forts by ensuring local access to donated organs, 
‘‘(I) facilitate collaboration between transplant 
centers and local Organ Procurement Organizations 
to maximize organ donation and utilization, 
‘‘(J) establish policies and procedures to in-
crease the use of marginal or high-risk donors con-
sistent with sound medical judgement and informed 
consent, and ensure transplant centers are not pe-
nalized for such use, 
‘‘(K) establish uniform criteria for determining 
patient medical status, 
‘‘(L) incorporate outcome measures into alloca-
tion policy to ensure maximum benefit to the popu-
lation from transplantation, 
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‘‘(M) increase transparency of data collection 
and modeling for organ donation and organ alloca-
tion, 
‘‘(N) establish policies and regulations that de-
crease the cost of organ procurement and transplan-
tation, 
‘‘(O) eliminate regulatory duplication between 
agencies resulting in inefficiency in the transplant 
process,’’; 
(F) in subparagraph (Q) (as so redesig-
nated), by inserting ‘‘, which shall consider out-
comes as well as waiting list mortality,’’ after 
‘‘allocating organs’’; and 
(G) by inserting after subparagraph (AA) 
(as so redesignated) the following: 
‘‘(BB) recognize the differences in health and 
in organ transplantation issues between patients who 
live close to transplant centers and rural patients 
who live far from transplant centers, and adopt cri-
teria, polices, and procedures that address the 
unique health care needs of patients living in rural 
areas far from transplant centers,’’; and 
(3) by striking paragraph (3). 
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(b) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services shall promulgate regulations to imple-
ment the amendments made by this Act. 
Æ 
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