“A bill to prohibit discrimination on the basis of mental or physical disability in cases of organ transplants.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section defines 10 terms used in the Act, including (1) auxiliary aids and services (as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act); (2) covered entity (licensed health care providers, including hospitals and transplant hospitals, engaged in or affecting interstate commerce); (3) disability (as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. 12102); (4) human organ (as defined in the National Organ Transplant Act); (5) organ transplant (transplantation or transfusion of a donated human organ to treat a medical condition); (6) qualified individual (one who meets organ eligibility requirements with or without support networks, auxiliary aids, or reasonable modifications); (7) reasonable modifications to policies or practices (including communication with support persons, consideration of support networks such as Medicare- or Medicaid-funded services, and supported decision-making); (8) related services (organ transplant evaluation, counseling, treatment, information provision, or physician-recommended services); (9) supported decision-making (use of support persons to assist qualified individuals with health care decisions, including auxiliary aids and coordination with guardians); and (10) support network (persons selected by or for a qualified individual to provide assistance, such as family or community personnel).
This section prohibits the board of directors of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN)—which operates the national organ waiting list and matching system—from issuing policies, recommendations, or other memoranda that prohibit or hinder a qualified individual's access to an organ transplant solely on the basis of disability.
This section prohibits covered entities from denying a qualified individual with a disability, solely on the basis of the disability, (1) eligibility for an organ transplant or related services; (2) an organ transplant or related services; (3) referral to an organ transplant center or related specialist; or (4) placement on an organ transplant waiting list. It permits a covered entity to consider the disability when recommending or deciding on treatment or coverage solely to the extent a physician determines, following an individualized evaluation, that the disability is medically significant to receiving the transplant or services (not including medically inappropriate transplants or services). If the individual has a support network providing reasonable assurance of post-transplant compliance with health requirements, inability to comply independently is not medically significant. This section requires covered entities to make reasonable modifications to policies, practices, or procedures necessary to afford transplants or services to qualified individuals with disabilities, unless such modifications fundamentally alter the nature of the policies or practices. It further prohibits denial of transplant-related procedures due to absence of auxiliary aids and services unless providing them would fundamentally alter the procedure or result in an undue burden. The prohibitions supplement—and do not limit rights or obligations under—Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (which bars disability discrimination in federally funded programs and activities), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or other applicable laws. Individuals alleging violations may file claims with the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights for expedited resolution, without limiting other available remedies.
This section specifies that provisions of the Act applying to organ transplants also apply to the evaluation and listing of qualified individuals, the transplant procedure, and post-transplant treatment; and that provisions applying to related services also apply to the process for receiving such services.
This section specifies that the Act does not supersede any state or local law providing greater rights to qualified individuals with respect to organ transplants than those established under the Act.