A few nights ago, one of my roommates made a comment about how her mother is finally taking a hard-earned vacation from her stressful job. My roommate’s mother is the CEO of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), and she began to talk more about the things she has been dealing with at work. Her mother has been traveling back and forth to Washington, D.C. for months, and meeting with many Senators’ staff. When I asked why she’s been so involved in politics lately, she explained that UNOS has recently been under fire from Congress due to the fact that there is no competition in the organ donation market. They have long been the only nonprofit organization to hold a federal contract for organ sharing, making them a publicly-regulated, private monopoly that holds 100% of the industry.
I asked, if the monopoly is so detrimental to health care and patients across the country, why has it taken so long for legislators to try to break up the UNOS monopoly? My roommate explained that the other options that have been considered in the past were not feasible. Organ donation needs to be national because organs are a scarce resource, and it is difficult for another company to compete against UNOS. It takes so much time to become reputable in a field as important as organ sharing, and at this point, UNOS’s long-run average cost is declining, and a new competitor would likely face very steep costs in starting up. She, and her mother, both have acknowledged that the current system is not optimal, as there is a need for organs that is not being met. Friedman, on the other hand, might argue that all the government needs to do is get out of the way, and allow UNOS to be a fully private monopoly until the market allows a new competitor. Either way, serving as CEO in the midst of a Senate overhaul of UNOS is a job that is well-deserving of a vacation.
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