How Steve Jobs cut in line for a liver transplant. Did Cheney do the same thing for his heart? [View all]

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http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/24/liver.transplant.priority.lists/index.html

Did Steve Jobs' money buy him a faster liver transplant?

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The answer sheds light on the intricacies of the organ transplant system, as well as why it's sometimes easier for people with significant financial resources to get an organ transplant. (Jobs' estimated net worth: $5.7 billion.)

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The reason that some people might be able to get transplants more quickly is that they're standing in more lines. Nothing prevents someone from being evaluated and listed at multiple transplant centers. As long as a patient has the wherewithal to fly around the country -- and be available at the drop of a hat if a liver becomes available (this is where the private jet comes in handy) -- a patient can, in theory, be evaluated by all the transplant centers in the country.

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"There's a huge triage involved in getting in," says Caplan. "If you're a homeless alcoholic sleeping on the streets of L.A., and you're going toe-to-toe with Steve Jobs, you're going to lose."

For most people, the ability to pay is a precondition for acceptance at more than one transplant center. Wealthy people who are, in effect, financially "pre-approved" for a liver transplant, can shop around and identify the transplant centers that will give them the best chance of receiving a new organ.

That's how it happens. There isn't one Organ Transplant List - each hospital that does transplants has its own list, and some of them pool, but the fact is that if you're filthy rich, like Steve Jobs, or Dick Cheney, you can shop around, find the hospitals with the shortest transplant lists, make yourself available to fly in for an immediate transplant on that handy Gulfstream, and give yourself a huge advantage over the regular Joe who is listed at only one hospital, the one closest to him, and that may have a long list of recipients waiting ahead of him for organs.