LifeCenter Northwest, the primary organ procurement organization in Washington, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho, threatened with decertification due to CMS criteria that disadvantages geographically large and sparsely populated service areas; “Decertification would create unnecessary risk for our region – jeopardizing timely access to organ transplants and undermining support for donor families”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) led 17 House and Senate members from western states in sending a bipartisan letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz expressing support for recertification of the regional organ donation group, LifeCenter Northwest – as well as concern that the HHS and CMS criteria used to evaluate the organization’s performance may undervalue organizations that serve large, rural areas.
Organ procurement organizations, or OPOs, are responsible for helping recover organs from deceased donors and getting those organs to patients who need transplants. Under the framework established by CMS in 2020, OPOs are assessed on two measures: How many potential donors become actual donors, and how many organs from those donors are ultimately transplanted. But in January, the Trump administration proposed major oversight and accountability changes that will determine whether OPOs may continue operating during the 2026 recertification cycle. If these changes are finalized, it is estimated that approximately 75% of OPOs could be at risk of decertification.
“LifeCenter Northwest plays a vital role in sustaining organ donation and transplantation across a uniquely large and complex donation service area. We are deeply concerned that their decertification would create unnecessary risk for our region – jeopardizing timely access to organ transplants and undermining support for donor families,” the lawmakers wrote.
In their letter, the lawmakers emphasized that LifeCenter Northwest serves an unusually large and difficult-to-reach region, where long distances, few transplant centers, remote communities, and transportation challenges make its work especially difficult. The letter also argues that CMS’s current evaluation system may not fully account for the unique challenges of the region and that replacing LifeCenter Northwest could disrupt lifesaving services.
“The organization serves more than 10 million people across approximately 808,000 square miles and coordinates donation services for more than 200 hospitals. Despite serving this expansive region and large population, there are only five transplant centers in the entire service area, all located in Washington state,” the lawmakers continued. “We support performance evaluation frameworks grounded in sound, evidence-based measures. However, we are concerned that CMS’s current OPO evaluation methodology does not adequately account for the unique circumstances and operational challenges inherent in serving a large, rural, geographically dispersed service area, like our region.”
When considering LifeCenter Northwest’s performance, the lawmakers asked HHS and CMS to:
- Consider the regional and operational circumstances beyond LifeCenter Northwest’s control, including the availability and proximity of transplant centers, variation in acceptance practices for medically complex organs, transportation and logistical challenges, and the unique demands of serving remote and geographically dispersed communities.
- Refrain from automatic decertification based solely on the current outcome-only, single-year tiering methodology.
- Provide LifeCenter Northwest with a clear pathway to demonstrate sustained, measurable improvement over time before taking any certification action that would disrupt the donation service area.
The letter was led by Sen. Cantwell and Sen. Daines. They were joined by U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Tim Sheehy (R-MT) and U.S. Representatives Emily Randall (D, WA-06), Adam Smith (D, WA-09), Pramila Jayapal (D, WA-07), Michael Baumgartner (R, WA-05), Troy Downing (R, MT-02), Dan Newhouse (R, WA-04), Ryan Zinke (R, MT-01), Kim Schrier (D, WA-08), Marilyn Strickland (D, WA-10), Rick Larsen (D, WA-02), Suzan DelBene (D, WA-01), and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D, WA-03).
The letter can be read in full HERE.