--- title: SB 109. 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 collection: bills id: 2025-2026/sb109 cite_as: SB 109, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb109 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb109.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb109/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69980 date: 2025-05-09 status: passed 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/sb108.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb110.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 994 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb109.md?full=1 bill_number: SB 109 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: Senate bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-05-09 last_action: Effective Date 2025-06-01 sponsors: - Ed Harbison - Larry Walker - Chuck Payne - Tonya Anderson - Randy Robertson - Sally Harrell - Nan Orrock - Michael Rhett - Elena Parent - Josh McLaurin - Kenya Wicks - RaShaun Kemp - Randal Mangham - Nabilah Islam Parkes - Nikki Merritt - Sheikh Rahman - Freddie Sims - Kay Kirkpatrick - Sonya Halpern - Kim Jackson - Brandon Beach - John Albers - Russ Goodman - Sam Watson - Ben Watson - Harold Jones - Carden Summers - David Lucas - Donzella James - Gail Davenport - Eddie Lumsden text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB109/2025 upstream_id: 1958428 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - life insurance - military service members - insurance regulation - group insurance benefits --- # SB 109. 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 ## Text 25 SB 109/AP Senate Bill 109 By: Senators Harbison of the 15th, Walker III of the 20th, Payne of the 54th, Anderson of the 43rd, Robertson of the 29th and others AS PASSED 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 S. B. 109 - 1 - 25 SB 109/AP 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 S. B. 109 - 2 - 25 SB 109/AP (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 S. B. 109 - 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. Georgia's group life insurance law would be changed so insurers can no longer deny death benefits just because the insured was an active duty or reserve member of the U.S. armed forces, unless the death was war-related. ### Plain-language summary 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. ### What it does - 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. ### Who it affects 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. ### Why it matters 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. ### Key provisions - 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. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-05-09) - Last action: Effective Date 2025-06-01 (2025-05-09) - Sponsors: Ed Harbison, Larry Walker, Chuck Payne, Tonya Anderson, Randy Robertson, Sally Harrell, Nan Orrock, Michael Rhett, Elena Parent, Josh McLaurin, Kenya Wicks, RaShaun Kemp, Randal Mangham, Nabilah Islam Parkes, Nikki Merritt, Sheikh Rahman, Freddie Sims, Kay Kirkpatrick, Sonya Halpern, Kim Jackson, Brandon Beach, John Albers, Russ Goodman, Sam Watson, Ben Watson, Harold Jones, Carden Summers, David Lucas, Donzella James, Gail Davenport, Eddie Lumsden - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69980 > The history, votes, and amendments (994 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb109.md?full=1