-Honor Our Living Donors Act (H.R. 628 / S. 957) Legislation to simplify the process of determining eligibility for reimbursement for living kidney donation-related costs -CONNECT for Health Act (S. 1261) Legislation to expand the use of telehealth and remote patient monitoring services in Medicare on a permanent basis -Organ Donation Referral Improvement Act (H.R. 330) Calls for study on adoption and best practices in automated referral regarding potential organ donors from donor hospitals to local organ procurement organizations -Removing Barriers for Organ Donation Act (H.R.4470) Mandates implementation of automated referral regarding potential organ donors from donor hospitals to local organ procurement organizations, with exceptions, and calls for a GAO study and agency coordination -Living Donor Protection Act (H.R. 4583) and related FMLA bill (H.R. 4582 and S. 1552). Clarifies and strengthens protections for Americans who donate an organ. - H.R. 5178, Sickle Cell Disease Comprehensive Care Act Authorizes state Medicaid Programs to provide comprehensive coordinated care through a Home Health program. (Senate companion S. 721) -$67M in appropriations for HRSA Organ Transplant work in FY26 (funding to modernize the US transplant system and support living donors through reimbursement for living kidney donation-related costs) -$25M in appropriations for HHS in FY26 to support KidneyX (public-private partnership to catalyze innovation in kidney disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment through a series of prize competitions) -Called for HRSA to focus on transparency for patients, improvements to data use and management, and attention to allocation out of sequence issues as it implements the 2023 Securing the US OPTN Act and FY25 appropriations -Called for the creation of an Officer of Kidney Health and Transplantation within the immediate office of the secretary of HHS (to coordinate kidney health care, research, and data-related efforts across the numerous HHS agencies with a role in kidney health) -Urged CMS to ensure kidney health data, particularly through the EQRS, remains readily available to the kidney research community as well as to the USRDS -Urged additional improvements to kidney care models at CMMI, particularly CKCC and IOTA - Urged Department of Homeland Security to not impose restrictions on physician visas, including to waive the $100,000 application fee for H1b visas, not implement new weighted tier system for H1b visa availability, and responded to proposal to modify current Duration of Status for J1 visa holders.
Literal federal measure citations: H.R. 628, S. 957, S. 1261, H.R. 330, H.R.4470, H.R. 4583, H.R. 4582, S. 1552, H.R. 5178, S. 721