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Permanent OPTN Fee Authority Act
To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to collect registration fees from members of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to collect registration fees from members of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network based on the number of transplant candidates each member places on the waitlist. The fees would be used exclusively to support OPTN operations and would be credited as offsetting collections to the HHS appropriation. The bill requires quarterly public reporting of fees collected from each member and their intended uses, and mandates a Government Accountability Office review of the program within two years.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Costa, Jim [D-CA-21] (D-CA)
1 cosponsor
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Jim Costa’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $25,300
- CALIFORNIA STRATEGIES $13,900
- FORHAN COMPANY $13,200
- SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY COLLEGE $11,300
- CDM $7,300
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Jim Costa → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Sep 10, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. · house
- Sep 10, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 10, 2025
Mr. Costa (for himself and Ms. Van Duyne) 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 collect registration fees from members of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Permanent OPTN Fee Authority Act”.
SEC. 2. ORGAN PROCUREMENT AND TRANSPLANTATION NETWORK.
Section 372 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 274) is amended—
(1) in subsection (b)(2)—
(A) by moving the margins of subparagraphs (M) through (O) 2 ems to the left;
(B) in subparagraph (A)—
(i) in clause (i), by striking “, and” and inserting “; and”; and
(ii) in clause (ii), by striking the comma at the end and inserting a semicolon;
(C) in subparagraph (C), by striking “twenty-four- hour telephone service” and inserting “24-hour telephone or information technology service”;
(D) in each of subparagraphs (B) through (M), by striking the comma at the end and inserting a semicolon;
(E) in subparagraph (N), by striking “transportation, and” and inserting “transportation;”;
(F) in subparagraph (O), by striking the period and inserting “; and”; and
(G) by adding at the end the following:
“(P) consider establishing a dashboard to display the number of transplants performed, the types of transplants performed, the number and types of organs that entered the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network system and failed to be transplanted, and other appropriate statistics, which should be updated more frequently than annually.”; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
“(d) Registration Fees.—
“(1) In general.—The Secretary may collect registration fees from any member of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network for each transplant candidate such member places on the list described in subsection (b)(2)(A)(i). Such registration fees shall be collected and distributed only to support the operation of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. Such registration fees are authorized to remain available until expended.
“(2) Collection.—The Secretary may collect the registration fees under paragraph (1) directly or through awards made under subsection (b)(1)(A).
“(3) Distribution.—Any amounts collected under this subsection shall—
“(A) be credited to the currently applicable appropriation, account, or fund of the Department of Health and Human Services as discretionary offsetting collections; and
“(B) be available, only to the extent and in the amounts provided in advance in appropriations Acts, to distribute such fees among awardees described in subsection (b)(1)(A).
“(4) Transparency.—The Secretary shall—
“(A) promptly post on the website of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network—
“(i) the amount of registration fees collected under this subsection from each member of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network; and
“(ii) a list of activities such fees are used to support; and
“(B) update the information posted pursuant to subparagraph (A), as applicable for each calendar quarter for which fees are collected under paragraph
(1).
“(5) GAO review.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Comptroller General of the United States shall, to the extent data are available—
“(A) conduct a review concerning the activities under this subsection; and
“(B) submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, a report on such review, including related recommendations, as applicable.”. <all>
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