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Policy development

Public comment archives

Making allocation more fair and flexible

Winter 2024 public comment was open from Jan. 23 - March 19, 2024. Go to current public comment page
A special public comment period for expedited placement variance was open Dec. 21, 2023 - Feb. 4, 2024. See comments
UNOS convenes and welcomes public debate throughout the policy development process.

Public comment is a time for the donation and transplant community to come together and work collaboratively.

We encourage patients, transplant candidates and recipients, living donors, donor families and transplant professionals to learn more about the items and provide their valuable feedback to help shape U.S. organ transplant policy. Also, regional meetings are happening around the country and are open to everyone. We encourage you to attend.

Learn more about 4 of the items that are up for comment

Visit the OPTN website to learn more and provide feedback on the 12 items available for comment, including 1 proposal for special public comment period.

See all items and provide feedback on the OPTN website

See all public comment items

More ways to get involved:

Proposal

Refit Kidney Donor Profile Index (KDPI) without race and hepatitis C virus

Proposed concept

The paper proposes a policy to remove race and Hepatitis C (HCV) from the Kidney Donor Risk Index (KDRI), and subsequently the Kidney Donor Profile Index (KDPI) to better reflect the likelihood of graft failure for kidneys from African American/Black and HCV positive deceased donors.

Goal

Increase equity and access to transplants

Read proposal and provide feedback:
Add your voice

Concept paper

Update on continuous distribution of hearts

Proposed concept

The purpose of the paper is intended to update the heart transplant community on continuous distribution and the progress made in developing a continuous distribution framework for the allocation of hearts.

Special online exercises are also available through March 19 that seek feedback from the entire community. Learn more here.

Goal

Improve equity of candidates on waitlist and increase transparency of heart allocation system

Read concept paper and provide feedback:
Add your voice

Proposal

OPTN Strategic Plan 2024-2027

Proposed changes

The plan incorporates a comprehensive understanding of the factors that impact the transplant community and a focus on building trust through action on opportunities most impactful to the community and ultimately, the patients served by the OPTN.

Goal

To inform the community about the Board’s strategic focus for the 2024-2027 plan.

Read proposal and provide feedback:
Add your voice

A special public comment period

Open Dec. 21, 2023 – Feb. 4, 2024

Proposal

Expedited Placement Variance

Proposed changes

The task force’s proposal outlines multiple iterative pilots with the community to identify effective practices to improve the efficiency of the organ allocation process.

Goal

Expedite organ placements

Read proposal and view feedback:

See comments

What is public comment?

Public comment is a crucial part of policy development. It’s a time for donor families, transplant candidates, organ recipients, donation and transplant professionals and the general public to provide feedback and engage in debate about policies that govern organ matching and allocation. To make the nation’s organ donation and transplantation system fair and equitable for all, many voices are needed and every view matters.

Please see the resources listed here to learn more about how UNOS convenes the organ donation and transplant community and the public in this twice yearly forum.

“Public comment is so important. And regional meetings are the place everyone comes together to talk about the big picture. I learn from the people who are on the ground and doing the work—like transplant coordinators and administrators. It’s really important to consider their perspectives and have evidence-based conversations about policy. Public comment is a reflection opportunity for real world issues in transplant.”
Macey L. Levan, J.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Surgery and Population Health, NYU Langone Health

Dr. Henderson is a former member of the OPTN Board of Directors. She is also a living donor.

Policy development process

Archived public comment

Learn about some of the previous proposals

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