Congress bars life insurers from penalizing kidney donors

What it does

This bill makes it illegal for life insurance companies to deny coverage, charge higher premiums, or offer worse terms to people solely because they donated a kidney, unless the insurer can prove the donation itself creates additional medical risk. It gives harmed donors the right to sue in federal court for damages and attorney's fees.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is a straightforward anti-discrimination rule protecting a specific class of people (organ donors) from insurance underwriting practices that penalize altruism. It is a consumer protection measure, not a subsidy or carve-out.

What the text implies

• May increase life insurance costs for non-donors if insurers shift risk pricing to other underwriting factors, though the effect is likely minimal given the small population of living kidney donors.
• Creates a federal private right of action in district court, potentially generating litigation and establishing case law on what constitutes unlawful discrimination in insurance underwriting.
• Does not address disability insurance, long-term care insurance, or other insurance products; scope is limited to life insurance only.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Living kidney donors gain a concrete legal protection against insurance discrimination, removing a financial penalty for altruistic organ donation and expanding access to affordable life insurance. The bill does not restrict insurers' ability to underwrite based on genuine medical risk, only on donor status alone.

Who stands to gain

• living kidney donors (reduced insurance costs/access)

Named in the bill

life insurance providers, living kidney donors, U.S. District Courts

Where it stands

5 cosponsors: 3 Republicans, 2 Democrats.

• May 19, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• May 19, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Financial Services · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

3 lobbying clients named this bill on 7 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $7,245,837 in lobbying spend. A filing names 14 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 61% of bills with at least one filing.

Jefferson Van Drew, the sponsor, reported $386,700 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• American Council of Life Insurers — $4,085,837 on 3 filings
• The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company — $3,130,000 on 3 filings
• National Kidney Registry — $30,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.