Legislators in Minnesota, Louisiana enact living organ donor protections
The American Kidney Fund announced its support for the passage of legal protections for living organ donors in Minnesota and Louisiana.
HF 1829/SF 1450, the state law in Minnesota, and H.B. 307, the state law in Louisiana, are designed to prevent life, disability and long-term care insurers in those states from charging living organ donors higher premiums or refusing to insure them due to their status as a donor.
“Thank you to Gov. Walz, Sen. Pappas and the rest of the Minnesota legislature for protecting Minnesotans who make the decision to become living organ donors through HF 1829/SF 1450,” LaVarne A. Burton, president and CEO of AKF, said in the release.
Regarding the new law in Louisiana, Burton said in a release, “H.B. 307 removes barriers to living organ donation — one of the most altruistic acts a person can take — and makes more transplants possible by prohibiting discriminatory insurance practices against living organ donors. This legislation will increase the number of kidneys and other organs available for the thousands of Louisianans awaiting transplantation.”
As Healio previously reported, the AKF graded Minnesota and Louisiana on state protection laws in the annual Living Donor Protection Report Card. While Minnesota remains at a B, Louisiana has moved from a B to an A.
New living donor protection laws in these states follow the passing of H.B. 275 in Georgia. Currently, the average report card grade in the United States is a C.
Reference:
American Kidney Fund commends Louisiana for enacting protections for living organ donors. https://www.kidneyfund.org/article/american-kidney-fund-commends-louisiana-enacting-protections-living-organ-donors. Published June 2, 2022. Accessed June 14, 2022.
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