[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2856 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2856

 To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out 
  demonstration projects to increase the supply of organs donated for 
                         human transplantation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 24, 2003

Mr. Greenwood (for himself, Mr. Frost, and Mrs. Christensen) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out 
  demonstration projects to increase the supply of organs donated for 
                         human transplantation.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS REGARDING SUPPLY OF DONATED ORGANS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services (in 
this section referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall make grants to 
public and nonprofit private entities to establish or operate 
demonstration projects for the purpose of increasing the supply of 
organs donated for human transplantation.
    (b) Consultations.--In carrying out subsection (a) for each grant, 
the Secretary shall consult with--
            (1) experts in human organ allocation and transplantation, 
        including representatives from the American Society of 
        Transplant Surgeons and representatives from the Organ 
        Procurement and Transplantation Network;
            (2) entities with other appropriate expertise, including 
        physicians, practitioners in end-of-life psychiatry, teaching 
        hospitals, and nonprofit private organizations concerned with 
        organ donation;
            (3) professional medical associations, including the 
        American Medical Association; and
            (4) business leaders, religious leaders, and other 
        community representatives.
    (c) Incentives.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to compliance with section 301 of 
        the National Organ Transplant Act, demonstration projects under 
        subsection (a) may include projects that facilitate the purpose 
        described in such subsection by establishing appropriate 
        financial incentives with respect to the donation of organs, 
        including projects to provide for the payment of travel and 
        subsistence expenses incurred by individuals toward making 
        living donations of their organs.
            (2) Life insurance; annuities.--Demonstration projects 
        providing financial incentives pursuant to paragraph (1) shall 
        include one or more projects to provide payments for the 
        purchase of life insurance policies or annuities, payable to a 
        donor's designee. Such projects shall be carried out by the 
        Secretary acting through the Director of the Centers for 
        Medicare & Medicaid Services, after consultation with the 
        Director of the Office of Personnel Management and officials in 
        such Office who carry out life insurance programs regarding 
        Federal employees. Such projects shall--
                    (A) include actuarial safety standards consistent 
                with insurance industry standards to ensure that the 
                costs of the projects to taxpayers are minimal; and
                    (B) be designed to operate independently of the 
                Secretary after receiving payments under this section 
                for the initial costs of the projects.
    (d) Evaluations.--The Secretary shall (directly or through grants 
or contracts) provide for the evaluation of demonstration projects 
under subsection (a) in order to determine the extent to which the 
projects have been effective in carrying out the purpose described in 
such subsection.
    (e) Report.--Not later than December 1, 2007, the Secretary shall 
submit to the Congress a report that describes the activities carried 
out by the Secretary under this section, contains summaries of the 
evaluations under subsection (d), provides the findings of the 
Secretary regarding effective means of carrying out the purpose 
described in subsection (a), and provides the recommendations of the 
Secretary regarding the provision of further appropriations to carry 
out this section.
    (f) Funding.--
            (1) Authorization of appropriations.--For the purpose of 
        carrying out this section, there is authorized to be 
        appropriated $25,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2004 
        through 2008.
            (2) Allocation.--Of the amounts appropriated under 
        paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve 
        not more than five percent for evaluations under subsection 
        (d).
                                 <all>