--- title: HB 182. Life insurance; excluding or restricting liability for certain deaths occurring while an individual is an active duty service member; prohibit collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb182 cite_as: HB 182, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb182 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb182.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb182/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69661 date: 2025-04-02 status: engrossed corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb181.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb183.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 1140 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb182.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 182 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-02-24 last_action: House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub As Amended sponsors: - Eddie Lumsden - Darlene Taylor - Charles Cannon - Bruce Williamson - Brian Prince - Ed Harbison text_version: Comm Sub has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB182/2025 upstream_id: 1947632 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - life insurance - military service members - insurance regulation - group insurance policies --- # HB 182. Life insurance; excluding or restricting liability for certain deaths occurring while an individual is an active duty service member; prohibit ## Text 25 LC 46 1215S The Senate Committee on Insurance and Labor offered the following substitute to HB 182: A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Chapter 25 of Title 33 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to life1 insurance, so as to prohibit a policy of group life insurance f rom excluding or restricting2 liability for certain deaths occurring while an individual is a service member; to provide for3 related matters; to provide for an effective date; to repeal co nflicting laws; and for other4 purposes.5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:6 SECTION 1.7 Chapter 25 of Title 33 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to life insurance,8 is amended by revising Code Section 33-25-5, relating to inclusion of provisions excluding9 or restricting liability for death, as follows:10 "33-25-5.11 (a) No policy of life insurance, except as stated in subsection (c) of this Code section, shall12 be delivered or issued for delivery in this state if it contains a provision which excludes or13 restricts liability for death caused in a certain specified man ner or occurring while the14 insured has a specified status, except that the policy may contain provisions excluding or15 - 1 - 25 LC 46 1215S restricting coverage as specified therein in the event of death under any one or more of the16 following circumstances:17 (1) Death as a result, directly or indirectly, of war, declared or undeclared, or of any act18 or hazard of such war;19 (2) Death as the result of aviation or any air travel or flight;20 (3) Death as a result of a specified hazardous occupation or occupations;21 (4) Death while the insured is a resident outside the continen tal United States and22 Canada; or23 (5) Death within two years from the date of issue of the polic y as a result of suicide,24 while sane or insane.25 (b) A policy which contains any exclusion or restriction pursuant to subsection (a) of this26 Code section shall also provide that in the event of death under circumstances to which any27 such exclusion or restriction is applicable, the insurer will pay an amount not less than a28 reserve determined according to the Commissioner's reserve valu ation method upon the29 basis of the mortality table and interest rate specified in the policy for the calculation of30 nonforfeiture benefits or, if the policy provides no such benef its, computed according to31 a mortality table and interest rate determined by the insurer and specified in the policy with32 adjustment for indebtedness or dividend credit.33 (c) This Code section shall not apply to group life insurance, except as stated in34 subsection (d) of this Code section , reinsurance, annuities, or to any provision of a life35 insurance policy, or contract supplemental thereto, relating to disability benefits, or to36 additional benefits in the event of death by accident or accidental means.37 (d) No policy of group life insurance shall be delivered or issued for delivery in this state38 if it contains a provision which excludes or restricts liability for death occurring while the39 insured is a service member of the regular or reserve component of the armed forces of the40 United States and such death is not a result, directly or indir ectly, of war, declared or41 undeclared, or any act or hazard of such war.42 - 2 - 25 LC 46 1215S (d)(e) Nothing contained in this Code section shall prohibit any pro vision which in the43 opinion of the Commissioner is more favorable to the policyhold er than a provision44 permitted by this Code section."45 SECTION 2.46 This Act shall become effective on the first day of the month following the month in which47 it is approved by the Governor or becomes law without such approval.48 SECTION 3.49 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.50 - 3 - ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary. A Georgia bill would bar group life insurance policies from denying payouts for deaths of service members, unless the death happened during war, closing a gap in current state insurance law. ### Plain-language summary Georgia law currently lets group life insurance policies exclude or restrict payouts for certain kinds of deaths, and group policies are largely exempt from the state's general rule against such exclusions. This bill amends Georgia's life insurance law (O.C.G.A. § 33-25-5) to add a specific new protection for military service members covered by group life insurance. Under the change, a group life insurance policy issued in Georgia cannot exclude or restrict payment for a service member's death in the regular or reserve armed forces, unless that death results directly or indirectly from war. The Commissioner of Insurance may still allow policy terms more favorable to the policyholder than what the law requires. The bill would take effect on the first day of the month after the Governor signs it or it becomes law without signature. ### What it does - Adds a new rule to O.C.G.A. § 33-25-5 barring group life insurance policies from excluding or restricting payouts for a service member's death. - Keeps an exception allowing insurers to exclude coverage when the service member's death results directly or indirectly from war, declared or undeclared. - Leaves in place the existing general exemption of group life insurance from most of the state's other death-exclusion restrictions, adding this one carve-out specifically for service members. - Preserves the Commissioner of Insurance's authority to approve policy terms that are more favorable to policyholders than what the law requires. - Sets the effective date as the first day of the month following the Governor's approval or the bill becoming law without signature. ### Who it affects Active duty and reserve members of the U.S. armed forces who are covered by group life insurance policies issued in Georgia, along with life insurance companies that write group policies and the beneficiaries who would receive death benefits. ### Why it matters Families of service members covered by group life insurance would gain assurance that a payout cannot be denied simply because the insured was an active duty or reserve member, except in war-related deaths, closing a coverage gap that previously existed for group policies in Georgia. ### Key provisions - Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 33-25-5 by adding new subsection (d), which prohibits group life insurance policies from excluding or restricting liability for a service member's death. - The new subsection (d) carves out an exception: insurers may still exclude coverage if the death results directly or indirectly from war, declared or undeclared, or acts or hazards of war. - Existing subsection (c) is updated to note that the general exemption for group life insurance no longer applies with respect to the new subsection (d) protection. - Renumbered subsection (e) preserves the Commissioner of Insurance's power to allow more favorable policy provisions than the law requires. - Section 2 sets the effective date as the first day of the month following approval by the Governor or the bill becoming law without signature. - Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Engrossed (2025-02-24) - Last action: House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub As Amended (2025-04-02) - Sponsors: Eddie Lumsden, Darlene Taylor, Charles Cannon, Bruce Williamson, Brian Prince, Ed Harbison - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69661 > The history, votes, and amendments (1,140 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb182.md?full=1