Changing America’s System for Organ Transplants

The United States government recently proposed new rules designed to improve transplant operations.

The goal is to ease a severe shortage of kidneys and other organs. The shortage is so severe that more than 113,000 Americans are on the transplant waiting list — and about 20 die each day.

Part of the problem is this. An Associated Press study recently found some organ collections agencies miss opportunities that could have saved lives. Some of these groups secure donors² at half the rate of others.

The U.S. government currently has little way to directly compare organ collection agencies and force poor performers to improve.

The rules come after President Donald Trump³ ordered a reworking of care for kidney disease.

Crackdown on OPO's

Under the proposed rules, Medicare, the national health insurance program, would rate the performance of organ procurement⁴ organizations, or OPOs.

"No life-saving organ should go to waste," Medicare chief Seema Verma said while announcing the proposals.

Organ transplant activists⁵ praised the move.

"Patients are dying, and they deserve better," said Jennifer Erickson about the government campaign targeting OPOs. Erickson worked on transplant policy for the administration of former president Barack Obama.

The association that represents the organ collection groups promised to work with Medicare to put the stronger rules into action.

The new measures are "an opportunity to drive meaningful changes that will increase the availability of organs for transplant and save more lives," said Kelly Ranum, the association's president. Ranum also heads the state of Louisiana's OPO.

A 2017 study by University of Pennsylvania researchers estimated that an improved transplant system could get as many as 28,000 more organs for patients.

How to Increase the numbers of living donors?

The Trump administration also aims to increase the numbers of living donors. The idea is that living donors should be reimbursed⁷ for lost wages and other costs during their hospital stay and recovery.

Currently, the transplant recipient's insurance company pays the donor¹'s medical costs. But donors are out of work for weeks while they recover. And not all employers permit some form of paid time off.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar's father received a kidney transplant from a living donor. "When an American wishes to become a living donor, we don't believe their financial situation should limit their generosity⁸," he said.

Most transplant organs come from deceased donors. But people lucky enough to receive an organ from a living donor often cut their wait time.

Yet fewer than 7,000 of the 36,529 transplants performed nationwide last year were from living donors.

Words in This Story

opportunity – n. chance; a series of events that makes it possible to do something

insurance – n. a system by which a company or government agency provides a guarantee of payment for damage, sickness or death

deserve – v. to do something or show qualities worthy⁹ of praise or recognition

procurement – n. the act or process of getting something

reimburse⁶ – v. to pay someone an amount of money equal to an amount that person has spent — often + for

generosity – n. the quality of being kind, understanding, and not selfish

deceased – adj. no longer living

1 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

2 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 procurement   

n.采购；获得

参考例句：

• He is in charge of the procurement of materials.他负责物资的采购。
• More and more,human food procurement came to have a dominant effect on their evolution.人类获取食物愈来愈显著地影响到人类的进化。

5 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 reimburse   

v.补偿，付还

参考例句：

• We'll reimburse you for your travelling expenses.我们将付还你旅费。
• The funds are supposed to reimburse policyholders in the event of insurer failure.这项基金将在保险公司不能偿付的情况下对投保人进行赔付。

7 reimbursed   

v.偿还，付还( reimburse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Any out-of-pocket expenses incurred on the firm's business will be reimbursed. 由公司业务产生的开销都可以报销。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Employees are reimbursed for any legal fees incurred when they relocate. 员工调往异地工作时，他们可以报销由此产生的所有法律服务费用。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

9 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。