Governor signs bill to protect living organ donors
Passed by the
"We're very pleased with this," Zimmerman said. "We've been strong proponents of this legislation for quite some time."
The law ensures that "life, long-term care and disability insurers will not discriminate against living organ donors through policy conditions, acceptance, or pricing based solely on the person's status as a living organ donor. It provides certain employees up to 60 days of unpaid leave for living organ donors."
"This is a very important bill," he said. "It could encourage more people to donate. I'm excited and pleased. It's long overdue."
The bill (SB 705) was introduced in the state
Zimmerman said the law is designed to prevent insurance companies from discriminating based solely on being a living organ donor.
"They cannot take (donor status) into consideration and let it affect pricing or cause an outright denial," Zimmerman said.
According to Zimmerman, there is a federal version of the bill that has been in the
"We've supported it for four years," Zimmerman said. "It is one of our top legislative priorities. We would like to see a federal bill passed and that would negate the need for the state bills. It has been gaining sponsors steadily and we remain optimistic."
In
"The bills are identical and would prohibit discrimination in life, disability and long-term care insurance for living donors and also clarifies that living donation is covered under the Family and Medical Leave Act," Zimmerman said.
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