Organ donors run risk of being denied health insurance

Los Angeles Times

David Lazarus
July 15, 2009
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By not making clear the financial risk of organ donation, insurers put donors in danger of losing affordable coverage and discourage potential donors from helping someone in need.

Eight years ago, Los Angeles resident Patricia Abdullah decided to donate a kidney to an acquaintance. She calls it one of the proudest moments of her life.

Last year, Abdullah, 61, lost her job with a publishing company. With it, she lost her employer-based health insurance.

Now she wonders what will happen if she can't find another job with group coverage. If she turns to the individual insurance market, will her act of compassion as an organ donor be perceived by insurers as a "preexisting condition," resulting in higher premiums or even denial of coverage?

"My fear is that they won't accept me because of this," Abdullah said. "It's what they say about no good deed going unpunished."

This is a blurry aspect of the healthcare system. Advocates for organ donation assert that insurers can and do treat donors as having a preexisting condition, but there is little empirical evidence to back that up.

"I'm sure it happens," said Jason Kimbrough, a spokesman for the California Department of Insurance, "but it's not something we track."
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