Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler addresses a crowd at her in-person town hall in January 2017.
Citing her own legislative proposal as the impetus for the decision, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, took a victory lap Wednesday at the Department of Labor’s announcement that organ donors are covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
"I'm very pleased that, thanks to this announcement that I helped spur through my efforts in Congress, more individuals will make the life-saving decision to donate an organ," Herrera Beutler said in a statement. "Organ donations save lives, save Medicare millions of dollars and cut costs across the health care system, which means it helps meet my goal of delivering better health care to Southwest Washington residents.”
The legal opinion released by the Department of Labor came after Herrera Beutler put a provision in an appropriations bill asking for the agency’s formal guidance on the issue. DOL stated that organ donation meets the standard for a “serious medical condition.”
The FMLA protects employees from being fired for missing work for qualified medical and family reasons, allowing up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for such circumstances. Herrera Beutler’s statement was accompanied by praise from leaders of various medical and transplant industry groups.
