Health Policy and Hospitals

The House Ways and Means Committee has opened an investigation into the University of Chicago Medical Center and Montefiore Medical Center after a New York Times report alleged the hospitals transplanted organs from U.S. donors into wealthy foreign nationals who traveled here specifically for surgery, potentially bypassing Americans on waiting lists. Committee Chair Jason Smith, R‑Mo., and Oversight Chair David Schweikert, R‑Ariz., sent letters Tuesday demanding transplant records and contracts by Feb. 10 and warning they will issue subpoenas if the systems do not comply, saying the alleged conduct 'strikes at the core' of what tax‑exempt hospitals owe the public. Lawmakers cite data showing foreign patients accounted for about 11% of heart and lung transplants at the University of Chicago from 2020–24—61 cases, more than any other U.S. hospital—and highlight an episode where a wealthy Japanese woman reportedly received a heart within three days of listing after a priority exception and her husband’s charity later donated to a nonprofit linked to the transplant surgeon’s family. They are also probing whether the hospitals struck contracts with foreign governments for transplant services, which could conflict with their community‑benefit obligations under federal tax law. The inquiry comes as more than 100,000 people remain on U.S. organ waitlists and thousands die each year awaiting transplants, making any evidence that wealth or foreign-government deals influence access politically explosive and likely to trigger broader scrutiny of UNOS allocation rules and hospital practices.