Relating to health insurance for living organ donors
Summary
House Bill 2045 would add a new section to West Virginia insurance law to protect living organ donors from being treated unfavorably by certain health insurers. The bill defines a “living organ donor” as a person who has donated all or part of an organ and is not deceased, and it applies to insurers issuing or renewing policies on or after July 1, 2025.
Under the bill, insurers could not decline or limit sickness, disability, or long-term care coverage solely because a person is a living organ donor. They also could not require someone to donate an organ as a condition of keeping coverage, or otherwise discriminate in coverage decisions, pricing, cancellation, or other policy terms based only on donor status and without additional actuarial risk. The bill’s stated purpose also mentions life insurance, although the operative text specifically addresses sickness, disability, and long-term care insurance.
Impact
The bill would amend the West Virginia Code by creating a new insurance nondiscrimination provision in Chapter 33, Article 57. It would restrict the underwriting and rating practices of insurers regulated under several state insurance chapters, limiting their ability to use living organ donor status alone as a basis for coverage decisions or policy terms. The practical effect would be to provide statutory protection for organ donors seeking or maintaining health-related insurance coverage, while preserving insurer discretion where other actuarial risks are present.
Sentiment
No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate, amendments, or formal support/opposition in the available record. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears consumer-protective and pro-donor, aimed at removing a potential barrier to living organ donation. The absence of recorded legislative history makes it difficult to assess broader political sentiment beyond the bill’s stated protective purpose.
Contention
The main potential point of contention is the scope of the insurance protections and whether they could affect underwriting flexibility for insurers. The bill prohibits discrimination based solely on living organ donor status, but insurers may be concerned about how to distinguish donor status from related medical or actuarial factors. Another possible issue is the mismatch between the bill’s note, which references life insurance, and the operative language, which expressly covers sickness, disability, and long-term care insurance but not life insurance in the new section.