ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes hosted a press conference at the Capitol on Tuesday to introduce the bipartisan HEART Act.
The bill, S7151A/A7617 would repeal New York’s current, decades-old ban on in-state multi-listing, which prevents patients from registering at multiple transplant centers and appearing on multiple organ donation wait lists.
The bill’s sponsors—Republican and Democratic legislators alike—say that it would save lives, especially among low-income patients.
Here’s Assemblymember Phil Palmesano with some statistics about organ donation:
Nearly 8,000 New Yorkers currently wait for a transplant, with close to 1,000 waiting more than five years, according to state records. Last year, nearly 400 people died waiting for an available organ. New York’s donor registration rate stands at 51%, below the national average and ranking 47 out of 52 registries across the country.
New Yorkers make up about 10% of the national transplant waiting list. But as Palmesano said, one tissue donor can save up to eight lives and indirectly help another 75. By letting New Yorkers register at multiple transplant centers, the HEART Act could cut transplant wait times in half and help Medicaid recipients who don’t have the money to get listed out of state.
New Yorkers with private insurance can sometimes bypass the current ban that way, but Medicaid recipients—low-income New Yorkers—can’t. Changing the law could decrease mortality in the state by about 20%, according to advocates and legislators at the press conference.
According to Peoples-Stokes, the new law would level the playing field. Nonwhite patients, who more frequently rely on Medicaid, often still struggle to find a matching donor.
The HEART Act would also prevent transplant centers from favoring patients based on the facility’s past performance or relationship with donor hospitals. Instead, donations would have to align with state-developed waiting lists and follow federal guidelines that match patients based on need.
The press conference event coincided with National Donate Life Month, the annual, national campaign pushing Americans to register as organ, eye, and tissue donors. Interested in becoming a donor? New Yorkers can join the Donate Life New York Registry online, at the Department of Motor Vehicles, or when registering to vote.
