State Rep. Perry Warren, (D-Bucks), announced Tuesday that the Pennsylvania House Insurance Committee is reorganized and focused on new ways to protect consumers.
“As chairman of the Insurance Committee, I look forward to passing laws that make insurance better for all Pennsylvanians,” Warren said. “Earlier today, the committee unanimously voted in support of three important proposals that will hopefully become law.”
The first proposal, H.B. 111, would prohibit life insurance companies from discriminating against individuals who have obtained naloxone or another medication to reverse an opioid overdose.
Because of a standing order from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, anyone can walk up to a pharmacy counter and receive naloxone. Warren noted the story of one mother who received naloxone so she could save her son’s life if he experienced an opioid overdose. She applied for a life insurance policy, but the life insurance company refused to give her a policy because they saw that she received naloxone and presumed that she had an addiction.
House Bill 111 would protect consumers like this mother by prohibiting life insurance companies from denying coverage based on an individual’s prior purchase or acquisition of naloxone, Warren said.
House Bills 211 and 261 update outdated language in Pennsylvania’s insurance laws.
“Long ago-passed insurance laws referred to ‘mental retardation’ and ‘physical handicaps,’” Warren said. “This stigmatizing language hurts and demeans our disability communities, and I was proud to work alongside Republican Committee Chairwoman Tina Pickett to replace this language with “intellectual disabilities” and “physical disabilities,” which is more inclusive and respectful toward our disability communities.”
House Bills 111, 211, and 261 now head to the full House of Representatives for further votes.
Warren was tapped late last year to lead the House Human Services Committee which addresses issues relating to states social services, including behavioral health, intellectual disabilities and autism services, medical assistance, and more. It oversees the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs.
Warren represents the 31st Legislative District in Bucks County, comprised of Lower Makefield, Newtown Borough, Newtown Township, Upper Makefield and Yardley.
