Some of us just weren’t born to be hip. We’re always just a step behind the latest cultural trends, not quite up to speed with the jargon or the hottest fashion. Once those treacherous teenage years are behind us, we tend to grow into a comfortable acceptance with being an old soul of sorts. And it’s really not so bad.

Consider, for example, internet acronyms. You know them – the shorthand that turns words into abbreviations that have somehow become ubiquitous in our culture: LOL, ROFL, IKR, TBH, WTV and so on. For a wordsmith, it’s been a difficult journey to acceptance that leaves me often on the “definitely not cool” side of the conversations, save a few favorites that I’ve come to appreciate. Chief among those is SMH because, quite often, conversations and events leave me simply shaking my head.

Like this week, when a press release came across my email promoting the latest bill being introduced by U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss. The Lincoln County-based Congresswoman is busy, so we frequently receive her comments on a national issue or a release about her support of important legislation.

On Thursday of this week, Hyde-Smith partnered with U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, to introduce legislation to encourage organ donations by protecting living donors from the threat of losing insurance coverage or paying more in health insurance premiums.

It’s a bill to solve a problem that, sadly, many of us probably never realized existed.

According to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, about 6,500 living organ donations take place each year. These donors are giving their kidneys, a portion of their livers, or certain other organs and tissues to others in medical crisis, often providing life-saving interventions.

And they are being punished for that generosity by insurance providers.

“Medical advances have made organ transplants more successful than ever, and we should be removing bureaucratic obstacles and red tape that stand in the way of saving lives,” Senator Hyde-Smith said.  “Our goal is to give potential donors peace of mind that their insurance carriers won’t penalize them for choosing to give the ultimate gift of life.”

The Living Donor Protection Act would protect the rights of living organ donors by ensuring they do not face discrimination from insurance companies. It would also codify U.S. Department of Labor guidance regarding living donors under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in the private and civil service, remove barriers to organ donation, and provide certainty to donors and recipients.

“Organ donors make an extraordinary sacrifice so someone else can have a new chance at life,” Sen. Cotton said.  “The Living Donor Protection Act would encourage more donors to step forward by protecting them from adverse consequences like denial of coverage and job loss.”

The bipartisan and bicameral Living Donor Protection Act would:

Prohibit life, disability, and long-term care insurance companies from denying or limiting coverage and from charging higher premiums for living organ donors.
Amend the FMLA of 1993 to specifically include living organ donation as a serious health condition for private and civil service employees.
Direct the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to update its material on live organ donation to reflect these new protections and to encourage more individuals to consider donating an organ
The effort has won the endorsement of dozens of agencies and organizations, from the American Council of Life Insurers to the American Kidney Fund, as well it should.

Organ donation is one of the most selfless acts of generosity and kindness humans can perform. It is truly life-saving and life-changing for the more than 100,000 Americans who need transplants – including 1,300 here in Mississippi alone. Any legal impediments to providing that help – especially something as counter-intuitive as denying insurance coverage for living organ donors – just leaves me SMH.

Stacy G. Graning is publisher of The Democrat. Contact her at stacy.graning@natchezdemocrat.com