The American Council of Life Insurers is keeping up the fight for legislation that could help living people who donate kidneys, portions of their livers or other organs to others.
The life insurer group is one of the backers of H.R. 4583, the new version of the Living Donor Protection Act.
The ACLI is also supporting H.R. 4582, the Living Donor FMLA Protection Act bill.
What it means: "The Living Donor Protection Act will help ensure that organ donors can continue to access life, disability income, or long-term care coverage, while upholding fair underwriting standards," ACLI President David Chavern said in a comment about the reintroduction of the living donor protection legislation. "Most importantly, it will safeguard those who selflessly give the gift of life through organ donation.”
The backdrop: There are now about 103,000 U.S. residents on the national transplant waiting list.
In 2024, 7,032 of the 24,021 donors of the types of organs the Organ Procurement & Transplantation Network tracks were living donors.
The legislation: The Living Donor Protection Act would prohibit insurers from basing underwriting decisions on applicants for life insurance, disability insurance or long-term care insurance solely on concerns about an applicant's status as a living organ donor.
The Living Donor FMLA Protection Act bill would make serving as a living organ donor a reason for a worker to receive leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., introduced the bills, and Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., is a co-sponsor for both bills.
H.R. 4583 is under the jurisdiction of the House Financial Services Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
H.R. 4582 is under the jurisdiction of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, the House Administration Committee and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
The Senate is considering a package, S. 1552, that includes the proposals from both bills.
Bacon and Nadler have been backing living organ donor bills since 2013.
The future: Efforts to support living donors could gain strength in Washington later this year because Daniel Aronowitz, the nominee to be the U.S. Labor secretary in charge of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, is a living donor. He gave one of his kidneys to his mother-in-law in 2011.
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