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Joint ASTS-AST-AAKP Letter to LDPA House Champions

November 11, 2025

As leading, independent, national organizations representing patients, organ donors and their families, transplant surgeons and physicians, and transplant health professionals, the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP), the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS), and the American Society of Transplantation (AST) stand united in applauding Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), along with Representatives Don Bacon (R-NE) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), for their bipartisan leadership in reintroducing the Living Donor Protection Act of 2025 (S. 1552 / H.R. 4582 and H.R. 4583) in the 119th Congress.

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ASTS signs on to AMA letter regarding the removal of members of ACIP

June 18, 2025

The undersigned medical professional organizations are writing to express our significant concern regarding your recent action to terminate the entirety of the membership of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). ACIP has, for decades, been a trusted advisory to CDC and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services leadership, providing evidence-based  recommendations regarding vaccinations through a transparent public process.

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Reimbursement

 

Joint Statements

ASTS submits comments in support of hospital revenue codes for machine perfusion

October 22, 2025
One of the critical barriers to further adoption and integration of this technology is the lack of dedicated revenue codes for Machine Perfusion, which are required by the commercial payors. Currently the only revenue code available for Machine Perfusion is Revenue Code 081X, which is also used to capture a wide range of other activities, including, for example, Organ Procurement Organization’s (OPO) fees, organ transportation fees, patient waitlist fees and many other related expenses.

While the use of Revenue Code 081X is adequate for the Medicare program, it does not facilitate billing or payment for machine perfusion performed for non-Medicare patients, since commercial payors who require a distinct revenue code for the Machine Perfusion in order to consider paying for it separately from the global transplant rates, which have not kept pace with rising costs.

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Leading Organizations Unite to Protect the Promise of Organ Donation and Transplantation

December 2025

Trusted voices in organ donation and transplantation have come together to stand firm in their longstanding commitment to a safe, ethical, compassionate, and continuous pursuit of a system that honors every donor, supports every family, and safeguards every patient who depends on a lifesaving transplant.

Every organ donation is a selfless act of generosity and hope. For the more than 100,000 people in the U.S. waiting for a lifesaving transplant, trust in the organ donation and transplant system is not just essential — it is the foundation that makes saving lives possible.
 

Read the full statement here

 

Advocacy Updates