During Thursday afternoon’s Senate hearing, 10 bills were brought up for their final vote before moving to the House of Representatives. While nine of the bills passed without discussion, one of the bills, SB 111, which would, among other provisions, protect organ donors from being denied coverage by insurance companies, sparked debate that led to a room-silencing speech from Sen. La Keisha Jackson, D-Indianapolis.
Sen. Andrea Hunley, D-Indianapolis, who authored the bill with Sen. Scott Baldwin, R-Noblesville, and Sen. Kyle Walker, R-Lawrence, began the discussion by describing the necessity of protecting Hoosier organ donors. She was then questioned by Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne.
“My concern is that if a trans woman wanted a uterine transplant, that would be covered under the bill,” said Brown.
Brown, who mentioned her concern about uterine transplants repeatedly during the discussion, was also concerned about possible raises in insurance rates for Hoosiers.
“We have 35 states that have already passed these protections, and any additions have been minimal. They haven’t seen an impact for the folks in that insurance pool,” said Hunley.
Sen. Mike Gaskill, R-Pendleton, was also concerned about higher premiums.
“If you can’t raise premiums for a single person who presents higher risks, then you will have to charge everyone a higher premium,” said Gaskill.
The room at this time was filled with side discussions before Jackson took the podium.
She gave a personal testimony about her own goddaughter who died after a failed kidney transplant. During her speech in favor of the bill, the room fell silent.
“Folks, we are talking about money here. I am talking about people’s lives,” Jackson said, fighting back tears.
Following Jackson’s speech, Sen. Tyler Johnson, R-Leo, requested that Hunley pull back the bill so discussions can be had to garner more support for it. Hunley agreed, and it was placed back on second reading.
After the Senate session, Sen. Shelly Yoder, D-Bloomington, spoke with the media in attendance.
“SB 111 quickly became about something that we had never even considered,” Yoder said when questioned about Brown’s uterine transplant comment. “That is not what this bill is about. This is about making sure that people who have the courage to give part of their liver, that they are not discriminated against.”
During the bill’s discussion in the Senate Insurance and Financial Institutions Committee on Jan. 15, lawmakers heard from several organ donation recipients.
Two and a half years ago, Danny Ernstess of Shelby County was told his kidney failure was inevitable and was given two options: to be put on dialysis or the kidney transplant list.
“As fast as that happened, I had end-of-life [care], and I went on dialysis for eight hours a day, seven days a week to stay alive,” said Ernstess.
A high-school friend he had not seen in over 40 years ended up being a compatible match.
“Every day I wake up and I’m grateful to a higher power for Tom. I’m grateful for his gift,” said Ernstess.
Curtis Warfield, a member of the board of directors for the National Kidney Foundation of Indiana, also testified in support of the bill. A stage 3 kidney disease survivor, Warfield received a life-saving kidney donation from Roslyn, his daughter’s college sorority sister and roommate. The two recently celebrated the ninth anniversary of their successful procedure.
“She was 26 years old at the time she donated. She was in her last semester of getting her master’s degree, which she got on time. She works in public health here in Marion County and runs a part-time business as a physical trainer,” said Warfield.
“She shouldn’t have to be punished because she is listed as either being disabled or having a preexisting condition for giving me future life.”
Schyler Altherr is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students. Chloe White contributed to this report.
