Sponsors (50)
The bill strengthens protections and workplace leave for living organ donors and improves transplant education—making donation more feasible and safer—while creating potential administrative costs, uneven state enforcement, and limited pathways for insurers to justify donor‑related premium increases.
Living organ donors keep access to life, disability, and long‑term care insurance and are protected from cancellations or denials and from premium increases or adverse underwriting based solely on donor status, with state regulators authorized to enforce these protections.
Employees who donate an organ (including federal employees) receive explicit FMLA protection for surgery and recovery, with the ability to substitute paid leave, preserving jobs and benefits and lowering employment/income uncertainty for potential donors.
Patients and potential living donors will get better, updated information and educational materials from hospitals and transplant programs within six months, improving informed decisionmaking and outreach.
Insurers can still raise premiums or limit coverage for donors if they demonstrate an "actual, unique, and material" actuarial risk, leaving room for donor-based discrimination depending on regulatory interpretation.
Added administrative and underwriting costs for insurers, staffing/overtime costs for employers, and program update costs for HHS and transplant centers could be passed on to policyholders, employers, patients, or taxpayers.
Protections and enforcement will vary by state, so donors and patients may receive uneven or slower remedies depending on where they live.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Stops insurers from denying or penalizing living organ donors for life, disability, and long-term care coverage, treats donation as a serious health condition for leave, and requires HHS outreach updates within 6 months.
Introduced May 1, 2025 by Thomas Bryant Cotton · Last progress May 1, 2025
Prohibits life, disability, and long-term care insurers from denying, canceling, or raising premiums solely because someone is a living organ donor, except when there is a demonstrable actuarial risk tied to donor status. It clarifies that organ donation surgery and recovery qualify as a serious health condition under family and medical leave rules and lets some federal employees substitute paid leave during their organ-donation leave. The Department of Health and Human Services must update donor education and public materials within six months to reflect these changes.