Findings

Congress makes the following findings: (1)The National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 amended the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide for, by contract with a private nonprofit entity, the establishment and operation of an Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. (2)The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network represents a unique public-private organization that requires each party to contribute a certain amount of funding to the network’s operation. (3)The National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 provided a statutory annual authorization of $2,000,000 for such purpose with remaining costs to be paid by the private sector contractor. (4)In 1984, the annual total operating cost of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network was $5,000,000, but in 2007 such annual cost exceeded $27,000,000. (5)The original authorization amount for the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network has never been increased since the enactment of the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984, resulting in a greatly increased cost burden on the private sector contractor. (6)Much of the increased costs of operation of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network have resulted from additional duties and responsibilities assigned to the private sector contractor by Federal regulations and Secretarial directives.