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)