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California law
prohibits transplant surgery denials based on HIV status

California law
prohibits transplant surgery denials based on HIV status

A California law sponsored by Assemblyman Paul Koretz and recently signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger prohibits health insurance companies from denying coverage for organ transplants based solely on a patient's being HIV-positive. The bill, the first of its kind in the country, addresses the fact that most health insurers routinely deny organ transplants to HIV-positive people because they believe the patients are unlikely to live long enough to justify the costs of the transplant surgeries. Transplants also were regularly denied to HIV patients because of fears that their immune systems may not be able to handle the drugs needed to suppress immune responses following transplant surgery. However, studies have shown that HIV-positive adults on antiretroviral drugs who have well-controlled infections fare just as well following transplant surgery as HIV-negative transplant patients.

"The passage of [the bill] sends a message to the nation that patients with HIV should not be denied access to organ transplantation simply because of their HIV status," Koretz told HIVandHepatitis.com. "There are many reasons why a patient with HIV may not be suitable for a transplant, but the sole fact that they are HIV-positive is no longer considered a legitimate reason at many transplant centers."

Although California's law is the first to target health insurance companies that deny transplant surgery coverage to HIV patients, several HIV-positive people in California, Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania have lodged successful legal challenges to their health insurers' policies against covering the surgeries. (Advocate.com)

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