You Spoke Up. The Senate Listened. Big Kidney Health Win in FY26 Bill

Kidney advocates made their voices heard in the Senate’s FY26 Labor, Health, and Human Services, Education appropriations bill. The bill includes a $5 million increase for the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) Modernization Initiative, bringing total funding to $59 million.

Launched during the Biden administration, this initiative aims to reform the nation’s organ donation and transplant system and better serve the more than 100,000 people on the organ transplant waitlist.

• Breaking Through After Flat Funding
• Senate Also Protects Key Kidney Programs
• Why This Matters Now
• Take Action
• Become a Voices for Kidney Health Advocate

Last year’s funding for HRSA OPTN Modernization stayed flat at $54 million. The $5 million increase represents meaningful progress in our efforts to modernize the 40-year-old transplant system.

This investment will accelerate:

• Modern IT infrastructure
• Independent governance
• Multiple vendor contracts to improve transplant matching and efficiency

The Senate also rejected harmful cuts that would have hurt research and chronic disease programs.

They chose to maintain:

• Support for the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) scientific research
• The CDC’s Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Initiative level funding at $4.5 million

While we await final disposition of the appropriations process, we applaud the Senate's overall approach to protect critical kidney health investments.

Smart federal investments save money and lives.

For patients waiting for transplants, improved OPTN systems mean faster matching and better outcomes. For the millions with undiagnosed kidney disease, continued CDC programs provide essential early detection tools when treatment is most effective.

Thanks to you, the Senate showed they care about kidney health. Now let’s make sure the House does too.

Contact your Representative today to urge them to match the Senate's kidney health funding levels. Tell them the $5 million OPTN increase saves lives and that continued support for kidney programs protects millions of Americans.

This Senate victory shows the power of kidney advocacy. The community spoke up—and it worked!

Now it’s your turn to add your voice. Become an NKF Kidney Advocate today.