SB109: SB109 Life Insurance; a policy of group life insurance from excluding or restricting liability for certain deaths occurring while an individual is an active duty service member; prohibit

Under current Georgia law (O.C.G.A. Chapter 25 of Title 33), individual life insurance policies are generally barred from excluding coverage for deaths tied to a person's status, but group life insurance policies have been exempt from that rule entirely. This bill narrows that exemption. The bill adds a new subsection (d) to O.C.G.A. § 33-25-5 that specifically bars group life insurance policies from excluding or restricting death benefits because the insured was a regular or reserve service member of the U.S. armed forces, as long as the death was not a result of war. War-related deaths remain an allowed exclusion, matching the treatment already given to individual policies. The law would take effect on the first day of the month following the Governor's signature or the date it becomes law without a signature.

• Adds a new rule to Georgia's group life insurance law (O.C.G.A. § 33-25-5) barring insurers from excluding or restricting death benefits solely because the insured was an active duty or reserve service member.
• Keeps an exception allowing insurers to exclude coverage for deaths caused directly or indirectly by declared or undeclared war, even for service members.
• Leaves the existing exemption of group life insurance from the general death-exclusion rules in place, except for this new service member protection.
• Sets the effective date as the first day of the month after the Governor signs the bill or it becomes law without a signature.

The bill affects members of the regular or reserve U.S. armed forces who hold group life insurance policies (often through an employer), the insurance companies that issue those group policies in Georgia, and the beneficiaries who would receive death benefit payouts.

Group life insurance policies, common through employers, previously could deny a payout simply because the insured died while serving in the military. This bill would stop that practice for non-war-related deaths, meaning families of service members could no longer be denied benefits based on military status alone.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 33-25-5 by adding new subsection (d), which bars group life policies from excluding or restricting liability for death based on the insured's status as a service member.
• The new subsection (d) carves out an exception: exclusions remain allowed if the death results, directly or indirectly, from declared or undeclared war or any act or hazard of such war.
• The prior subsection (d), which lets the Commissioner approve provisions more favorable to policyholders, is renumbered as subsection (e) without substantive change.
• Section 2 sets the effective date as the first day of the month following the bill's approval by the Governor or its becoming law without approval.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2025-05-09Effective Date 2025-06-01
2. 2025-05-09Act 75
3. 2025-05-09Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
4. 2025-04-07Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
5. 2025-03-18House Passed/Adopted (House)
6. 2025-03-18House Third Readers (House)
7. 2025-03-13House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
8. 2025-03-11House Second Readers (House)

• Ed Harbison (D, SD-015)Primary sponsor
• Larry Walker (R, SD-020)
• Chuck Payne (R, SD-054)
• Tonya Anderson (D, SD-043)
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• Sally Harrell (D, SD-040)
• Nan Orrock (D, SD-036)
• Michael Rhett (D, SD-033)
• Elena Parent (D, SD-044)
• Josh McLaurin (D, SD-014)
• Kenya Wicks (D, SD-034)
• RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-038)
• Randal Mangham (D, SD-055)
• Nabilah Islam Parkes (D, SD-007)
• Nikki Merritt (D, SD-009)
• Sheikh Rahman (D, SD-005)
• Freddie Sims (D, SD-012)
• Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-032)
• Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
• Kim Jackson (D, SD-041)
• Brandon Beach (R, SD-021)
• John Albers (R, SD-056)
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
• Sam Watson (R, SD-011)
• Ben Watson (R, SD-001)
• Harold Jones (D, SD-022)
• Carden Summers (R, SD-013)
• David Lucas (D, SD-026)
• Donzella James (D, SD-028)
• Gail Davenport (D, SD-017)
• Eddie Lumsden (R, HD-012)

1. PassedSenate voteMarch 6, 2025

   53 yea, 0 nay (1 not voting, 2 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #179

2. PassedHouse voteMarch 18, 2025

   172 yea, 0 nay (3 not voting, 5 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #285

• life insurance
• military service members
• insurance regulation
• group insurance benefits