Organ Transplant Push Seen Endangered by Plan to Rein in Costs

Prominent medical groups fear a federal push to increase organ transplants could face a significant slowdown under a proposed rule by the Biden administration that would reduce Medicare payment for certain costs related to the organ acquisition process.

One payment revision in the proposed rule would save an estimated $4.1 billion over 10 years and help cut wasteful and duplicative program spending—sometimes for organs not used by Medicare beneficiaries. It would reimburse only for “organs transplanted into Medicare beneficiaries so that Medicare more accurately records and pays its share of organ acquisition costs,’’ the proposal said.

This change and others ...