Bill
HR 1520
Prohibits denial or restriction of organ transplants or related services for people with disabilities and sets an expedited HHS OCR enforcement path.
Note on discrepancy
- The bill title you provided at the top (a commemorative resolution for the West Texas Legislative Summit) does not match the text and committee report you supplied. The documents and House report (H. Rept. 119‑159) pertain to H.R. 1520, the "Charlotte Woodward Organ Transplant Discrimination Prevention Act," introduced Feb 24, 2025. The summary below describes the organ‑transplant nondiscrimination bill reflected in the report. Tell me if you want a summary of the West Texas commemorative resolution instead.
Overview
- Short title: Charlotte Woodward Organ Transplant Discrimination Prevention Act (H.R. 1520).
- Purpose: To prohibit denial or restriction of access to organ transplants or related services solely on the basis of mental or physical disability, and to establish an expedited review and enforcement mechanism to address such discrimination.
Purpose and background
- Rationale: Federal and state reports (e.g., National Council on Disability) document cases where persons with disabilities have been denied organ transplants based on assumptions about quality of life or post‑transplant compliance. Existing civil‑rights statutes (ADA, Rehabilitation Act, ACA) already prohibit disability discrimination in health care, but enforcement and guidance are limited. H.R. 1520 seeks to clarify protections and improve enforcement.
Key provisions
- Prohibition: Health care providers and other entities involved in organ transplantation may not deny or restrict a person’s access to an organ transplant, transplant evaluation, listing, or related services solely because of that person’s disability.
- Exceptions: The prohibition does not bar medically appropriate clinical judgment; limited circumstances where a disability directly contraindicates a transplant remain subject to medical standards (the report references “limited circumstances” but the full statutory text should be consulted for precise exceptions).
- Enforcement: Creates or directs an expedited review and enforcement mechanism, as appropriate, through the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (HHS OCR) to investigate and resolve alleged discrimination in transplant decisions.
- Clarification of law: Reinforces and clarifies that transplant centers must not use assumptions about disability, prognosis, or life‑quality judgments as a basis for denial.
Who is affected
- Patients with disabilities who require organ transplants (including cognitive, developmental, physical disabilities).
- Transplant centers, hospitals, transplant evaluation teams, payers and other entities involved in transplant decisionmaking and listing.
- HHS OCR and other federal agencies insofar as enforcement and guidance responsibilities are implemented.
Procedural status and timeline
- Introduced in House: Feb 24, 2025.
- Referred to House Energy and Commerce Committee; reported favorably (H. Rept. 119‑159) Apr 29 / Jun 12, 2025 (committee recorded vote 46–1).
- House floor: Considered under suspension of the rules; passed by voice vote Jun 23, 2025.
- Received in Senate: Jun 24, 2025; read twice and referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- Related/previous: Provisions were previously advanced as H.R. 2706; companion bill in the Senate is S. 1782.
Budgetary impact
- Committee finding: H.R. 1520 would result in no new or increased budget authority, entitlement authority, tax expenditures, or revenues. (CBO estimate text was truncated in the report, but the committee reported no significant budgetary effects.)
Sponsors
- Primary sponsor: Rep. Kat Cammack.
- Bipartisan list of cosponsors from both parties (see full list in the provided materials).
Impact summary
- Strengthens and clarifies statutory protection against disability‑based denial of organ transplants and establishes a faster federal enforcement path for complaints. It aims to reduce discriminatory denials based on assumptions about disability and ensure equitable access to transplant evaluation and services.
If you want, I can:
- Summarize the precise statutory language and exceptions (from the bill text itself).
- Produce a short summary suitable for press or a one‑page fact sheet.
- Prepare the alternative summary for the West Texas Legislative Summit resolution if that was the intended bill.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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