The Health Equity in Transplantation Coalition Applauds CBC Chair for Urging HHS to Reverse Medicare Cuts

Originally published in Black Enterprise.

HEiTC leaders applaud Congressional Black Caucus Chair Steven Horsford for asking HHS to reverse Medicare cuts.

The Health Equity in Transplantation Coalition (HEiTC), launched in November 2023 by Rev. Al Sharpton and singer Al B. Sure!, is applauding Congressional Black Caucus Chair Steven Horsford (D-NV) for his written appeal regarding Medicare cuts.

Horsford penned a letter dated Dec. 22 that urged the Biden administration to reverse Medicare cuts that will leave thousands of Black, brown, and other transplant recipients without a lifesaving blood test that noninvasively detects early signs of organ transplant rejection.

In the letter, which Horsford addressed to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, he asked them to explain why the ruling was made, rescind it, and ensure there were no other cutbacks on noninvasive blood tests, which are able to catch an organ transplant rejection months in advance.

“We share the Biden Administration’s commitment to closing racial disparities in our health system,” Horsford wrote. “All of us sit in government because we believe a better future is possible in which the children and grandchildren of our constituents have fair access to care. We know you share our mission of ensuring equitable care and appreciate your attention to this critically important matter.”

The cuts were announced on March 2 by a private “Medicare Administrative Contractor.” It tied Medicare coverage to an invasive, risky surgical biopsy, which has led to a significant drop in the use of transplant blood tests due to cancellations, delays, or plain confusion as to whether Medicare coverage would still be provided.

HEiTC Executive Chairman Al B. Sure!, who received a lifesaving liver transplant in the summer of 2022, was glad to see Horsford step up for organ transplant recipients.

“After a successful day of action on Capitol Hill last month, I and the entire Health Equity in Transplantation Coalition are humbled to see Chair Horsford make this call,” said Al B. Sure!. “Tens of thousands of organ transplant recipients, a disproportionate share of which are Black and Brown, don’t know at this moment if the gift of life they received will fail them. All because a private contractor was allowed to peel back coverage on a life-saving test capable of catching a rejection before it happened. I want to thank Chair Horsford for being a constant champion of justice for Black and Brown Americans, especially in this moment when we need heroes in government like him.”  

The HeiTC isn’t the only group concerned about the Medicare cuts. A group of 14 bipartisan former and current politicians have also urged an end to the Medicare cuts, including Reps. Anna Eschoo (D-CA) and Dr. Michael Burgess (R-TX), who wrote a follow-up letter pressing for more answers on why Medicare contractors rolled back coverage without public comment and through a billing article.