HB 182: Life insurance; excluding or restricting liability for certain deaths occurring while an individual is an active duty service member; prohibit

Georgia law currently lets individual life insurance policies exclude coverage for deaths in certain situations, like war, aviation, hazardous jobs, or living abroad, but group life insurance has been exempt from those restrictions entirely under O.C.G.A. § 33-25-5. This bill narrows that exemption for group policies. The bill adds a new provision saying no group life insurance policy sold in Georgia can exclude or limit payouts for a death that happens while the insured person is a service member in the regular or reserve armed forces, unless that death was directly or indirectly caused by war. The rest of the existing law, including the Commissioner's authority to allow more generous policy terms, stays in place. The change would take effect the first day of the month after the Governor signs it or it becomes law without a signature.

• Adds a new subsection to Georgia's life insurance law (O.C.G.A. § 33-25-5) barring group life insurance policies from excluding coverage for deaths of active-duty or reserve service members.
• Keeps a war-related death exception, so group policies can still deny or limit payouts if the death was directly or indirectly caused by war.
• Narrows the existing blanket exemption that let group life insurance policies skip the death-exclusion rules that apply to individual policies.
• Leaves intact the Commissioner of Insurance's power to approve policy terms more favorable to policyholders than what the law requires.
• Sets the effective date as the first day of the month after the Governor signs the bill or it becomes law without a signature.

Service members in the regular or reserve components of the U.S. armed forces who are covered by group life insurance in Georgia, along with the insurance companies that write those group policies and the employers or organizations that sponsor them.

Families of service members covered by group life insurance would be guaranteed a death benefit even if the death happened while the person was on active duty, as long as it was not war-related, closing a gap that current law allows insurers to build into group policies.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 33-25-5 by adding subsection (d), prohibiting group life insurance policies from excluding or restricting liability for deaths of service members, with a war-death exception.
• Section 1 also revises subsection (c) to note that the group life insurance exemption from death-exclusion rules no longer applies to the new service member protection in subsection (d).
• Section 1 renumbers the prior subsection (d) as subsection (e), which still lets the Commissioner approve policy provisions more favorable to policyholders.
• 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 signature.
• Section 3 repeals any existing laws that conflict with the bill.

1. 2025-04-02House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub As Amended (House)
2. 2025-03-28Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
3. 2025-03-28Senate Third Read (Senate)
4. 2025-03-18Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
5. 2025-03-13Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
6. 2025-02-26Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
7. 2025-02-24House Passed/Adopted (House)
8. 2025-02-24House Third Readers (House)

• Eddie Lumsden (R, HD-12)Primary sponsor
• Darlene Taylor (R, HD-173)
• Chas Cannon (R, HD-172)
• Bruce Williamson (R, HD-112)
• Brian Prince (D, HD-132)
• Ed Harbison (D, SD-15)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 24, 2025

   171 yea, 0 nay (4 not voting, 5 excused)

   PASSAGE: House Vote #69

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 28, 2025

   46 yea, 0 nay (5 not voting, 5 excused)

   PASSAGE BY SUBSTITUTE: Senate Vote #321

3. PassedHouse voteApril 2, 2025

   166 yea, 2 nay (3 not voting, 9 excused)

   Agree to Senate Sub as Am: House Vote #384

• life insurance
• military and veterans
• insurance regulation
• service members