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Organ Procurement and Transplantation National Bone Marrow Donor Health Care Facilities Health Care Access for the Uninsured – State Planning Grant Program National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
HRSA’s OSP administers five programs:
- Organ Procurement and Transplantation
- Health Care Facilities
- National Bone Marrow Donor Program
- National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
- State Planning Grant Program
- The Division of Facilities Compliance and Recovery administers the “Health Care and Other Facilities” grant program that provides construction assistance to health facilities across the nation. The Division also manages the Hill-Burton program to assure that obligated facilities provide free or reduced cost medical services to those pesons who are uninsured and underinsured and meet eligibility criteria.
- The Division of Facilities and Loans administers the Department of Health and Human Services’ portfolio of existing Hill-Burton direct and guaranteed loans and assists the Department of Housing and Urban Development in operating their current hospital mortgage insurance programs.
- The Division of Facilities and Loans includes the Office of Engineering Services (OES) which provides architectural/engineering services during the application, design, bidding, and construction phases of Federally assisted projects for the Department of Health and Human Serivces (HHS).
- The principal responsibilities of the Division of Transplantation Network (OPTN), the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR), and the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) contracts as well as national coordination of organ and tissue donation activities.
- The State Planning Grants Program provides one-year grants to States to develop plans for providing access to affordable health insurance coverage to all their citizens. States are designing approaches that provide health insurance benefits similar in scope to the Federal Employees Health Benefit Plan, Medicaid, coverage offered to State employees or other similar quality benchmarks.
- The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 (the Act) established the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP). The VICP went into effect in October 1988 and is a Federal “no-fault” system designed to compensate individuals, or families of individuals, who have been injured by childhood vaccines, whether administered in the private or public sector.
FY 2002 Appropriation: $20 million
Organ donation and transplantation have become both increasingly visible and increasingly critical as issues of public health concern: Americans are dying because there is an insufficient number of organs available. As of November 1, 2002, there were 80,464 patients on the transplantation waiting list. The total number of organs transplanted in 2001 (the latest year data is available) was 24,110. The consequent imbalance between the need for and supply of transplantable organs results in the death of approximately 16 patients each day who were awaiting an organ transplant.
Our goals are to create a nationwide increase in:- Organ donations
- Minority organ donors
- Unrelated patients receiving marrow transplant
- Minority patients receiving marrow transplants
- Unrelated minority donors
In April 2001, Secretary Tommy G. Thompson launched a new “Gift of Life Initiative,” to increase the nation’s awareness of the need for donating organs, tissue, blood and marrow. The result will be more people responding with the “gift of life.”
The national initiative has five primary components: (1) the Workplace Partnership for Life Initiative, in which companies and associations of all sizes join the donation effort by making information on donations available to employees and members, (2) the development of a new Model Organ Donor Card, (3) the creation of a National Forum on Donor Registries, (4) the creation of a Gift of Life Medal to be presented to families of donors in recognition of their loved one’s gift, and (5) the development of a Driver Education Curriculum.
Numerous donation education strategies have been implemented in recent years. One of the most promising is a multi-year grant program to evaluate education strategies to increase donations. In addition, a new clinical interventions grant program was initiated to increase organ procurement.
HRSA oversees the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, a computerized list of patients throughout the nation who are waiting for organ transplants – and a 24 hour-a-day computerized organ placement center to match donors and recipients. The United Network for Organ Sharing, located in Richmond, Virginia manages this network under contract.
Accomplishment:- Three thousand businesses and associations have enrolled in the Secretary’s Workplace Partnership for Life Initiative.
To increase the national number of living and deceased organ donation by 6 percent per year from 12,582 donors in FY 2001 to an estimate of 13,336 donors in FY 2002.
• Back to Top •FY 2002 Appropriation: $22 million
The National Bone Marrow Donor Program operates the national registry of volunteers willing to donate bone marrow to people with leukemia and other life-threatening, blood-based diseases. Through the program, volunteers are recruited, tissue is typed, and the type is entered into the registry. The program also provides information and case management for patients, and conducts research to improve the number, and track the effectiveness of marrow transplants from unrelated donors.
Accomplishment:- As of September 30, 2001, more than 4.5 million volunteer donors were listed on the national registry. In addition to maintaining the registry, the Office of Special Programs (OSP) searches computerized databases for patients and publishes a scientific registry of transplant outcomes. OSP has established outyear targets to increase the numbers of unrelated bone marrow donors and the number of minority bone marrow donors on the registry.
Increased by 5 percent the number of unrelated bone marrow donors (National registry of potential donors) from 4.15 million donors in FY 2000 to 4.5 million donors in FY 2001.
• Back to Top •FY 2002 Appropriation: $315 million
- The Hill-Burton program, which monitors fulfillment of uncompensated care requirements of former Hill-Burton grantees.
- Section 242 guaranteed construction loan program for hospitals. This program is administered through a memorandum of agreement with HUD.
- Health care facilities construction grant program.
- 357 construction grants were awarded in 2002.
State Planning Grant Program
FY 2002 Appropriation: $15 million
These program funds are used to conduct in-depth surveys and other activities necessary to determine the most effective methods of providing insurance coverage for the uninsured. The program has assisted States in the work of collecting and analyzing data, developing options, and working with key constituency groups and the public to create viable insurance expansion options.
Accomplishment:- Thirty-two States have developed plans or options to provide access to health insurance for their uninsured populations, and have prepared reports to the Secretary on these plans.
The program met its 2002 performance goal to increase the number of States participating in the State planning grant effort focused on addressing the problem of the uninsured from 20 States in FY 2001 to 31 States in FY 2002.
• Back to Top •FY 2002 Appropriation: Such sums as may be necessary
from the Vaccine Injury Compensation Trust Fund
The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) is a Federal program that compensates individuals thought to be injured by vaccines recommended for routine administration to children by the CDC. The VICP is a no-fault alternative to the traditional tort system and claims are filed with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Since its inception, the VICP has been a key component in stabilizing the U.S. vaccine market by providing liability protection to both vaccine companies and health care providers and by encouraging research and development of new and safer vaccines.
Within the Office of Special Programs, the Division of Vaccine Injury Compensation (DVIC) holds lead responsibility for Departmental activities related to the VICP. DVIC specifically (l) evaluates claims for compensation under the VICP through medical review and assessment of compensability for all complete claims filed, including an external review of the claim by clinical specialists when warranted; (2) tracks awards for compensation made under the program and reports periodically to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) on the number and amount; (3) proposes revisions to the Vaccine Injury Table to the Secretary; (4) manages and provides professional and clerical staff support to the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines; (5) develops and maintains information systems necessary for the processing and payment of claims; and (6) provides information to medical and legal professionals, and the general public on the VICP.
Accomplishment:- In Fiscal Year 2002, the VICP awarded compensation to about 80 individuals for a total of nearly $62 million.
The VICP exceeded its time-line payment goals in all award categories, which include annuity premiums, lump sums, and attorneys fees and costs. In FY 2002, these awards were paid at a success rate of approximately 98 percent of established performance goals which are based on industry standards.
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