Charlotte Woodward Organ Transplant Discrimination Prevention Act
The Charlotte Woodward Organ Transplant Discrimination Prevention Act would make it illegal to deny or unduly delay an organ transplant or related services to a person solely because of a disability. It applies to licensed health care providers and transplant hospitals that operate across state lines or have a significant interstate connection. The bill defines terms such as disability, organ transplant, qualified individual, and support network, and it requires covered entities to make reasonable modifications to their policies and practices, ensure access to auxiliary aids and services, and consider disability in transplant decisions only when a physician determines it is medically significant after an individualized evaluation. Enforcement would be through the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights, with a focus on expedited resolution, while still preserving existing rights under the ADA and other laws. The act also extends protections to the evaluation, listing, transplant, and post-transplant care processes.
Key Points
- 1Prohibits discrimination in organ transplant access based on disability by covered entities (healthcare providers and transplant centers) and bars policies that block or hinder access solely due to disability.
- 2Requires reasonable modifications to policies and practices to make organ transplant and related services available to qualified individuals, unless such modifications would fundamentally alter the policies or services.
- 3Allows medical considerations to be taken into account if a physician, after an individualized evaluation, determines disability is medically significant to the transplant decision, but the rule cannot compel medically inappropriate transplants.
- 4Encourages support networks and “supported decision-making” to help individuals comply with post-transplant care and health requirements; requires consideration of these supports in access decisions.
- 5Enables enforcement through the Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Health and Human Services for expedited resolution, without replacing other available remedies under existing disability laws.