NYS Considers Allowing Transplant Candidates to List at Multiple Centers
- Kidney Foundation of WNY
- Apr 9
- 2 min read
In early April, lawmakers introduced the Helping Equal Access to Registration for Transplant (HEART) Act in both the New York State Assembly and Senate. The proposed law would allow people waiting for an organ transplant to be listed at more than one transplant center in New York State.
The state has prohibited the practice known as multi-listing since 1990. No other state has the same prohibition. Advocates of the change say it would shorten waiting times for transplant candidates, leading to more successful transplants and saving lives.
Donate Life New York State reports that the prohibition disproportionately impacts low-income, Medicaid, and underinsured individuals. Medicaid coverage generally does not permit non-emergency care outside New York, creating unequal access to lifesaving transplants. Donate Life New York State noted that Medicaid patients represent 27% of transplant waitlist candidates but only 15% of recipients, compared to privately insured patients who account for 35% of candidates and 37% of recipients.
“Every day, thousands of New Yorkers are waiting for their life-saving organ transplant. I am proud to have introduced the HEART Act and to work with my colleagues, Donate Life New York State, and all those impacted by organ and tissue donation to improve and modernize the organ donation and transplant process in this State,” Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes said at a news conference in Albany on April 8.
“The HEART Act will reduce wait times and establish a more just and equitable system for all those in need of a transplant, and I look forward to it becoming law,” Peoples-Stokes said.
"Everybody waits some amount of time for a transplant," noted Liise Kayler, MD, MS, FACS. "Some people wait five to ten times longer compared to others. Mostly this is due to geography, where they live."
"In almost all states, people can get on the waiting list at a transplant center near them and also get on another list at a center with a shorter waiting time. New Yorkers can't do that. Not yet anyway," added Dr. Kayler, the program director of the Regional Transplantation and Kidney Care Center of Excellence at ECMC. "I want all New Yorkers to have the chance of getting a transplant as quickly as possible."
Additional information:
Read a post from Donate Life NYS: Bipartisan Electeds and Advocates Join in Support of New Lifesaving Organ Donation Legislation (April 9)
Media coverage:
News article from Politico: The push to create equity in New York’s organ transplant system (March 31).
News from Spectrum Buffalo: Proposal in N.Y. would allow patients access to multiple transplant centers simultaneously (April 8)
Coverage from WROC-TV / RochesterFirst: New York lawmakers push legislation to boost organ transplant access (April 8).
Coverage from WHEC-TV Rochester: HEART Act would end ban on ‘multi-listing’ for transplants (April 8).
Aisha Tator from Donate Life NYS was a guest on The Capitol Pressroom: Creating more organ donation opportunities in New York (April 8)
Track the NYS Senate version of the bill.
Track the NYS Assembly version of the bill.
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