Priscilla sent a message to W. Craig Jelinek President and Chief Executive Officer of Costco Wholesale Corporation email address that said:
Dec. 29, 2015
Dear Mr. Jelinek,
Recently I applied for life insurance through Costco.
I was more than shocked to receive a letter today stating that I was turned down because I was kidney donor on Nov. 23, 2015.
Live organ donors have to pass extremely rigorous health tests. A donor's health has to be excellent to be qualified to donate. Kidney donors outlive the general population by 2 - 3 years. I daresay my health is much better than the average 63 year old woman in the USA. It is also well documented that healthy people can live a full life with one kidney. The risk of kidney donors experiencing end-stage renal disease is no higher than the general population.
I had read that some insurance companies discriminate against live organ donors, just based on the mere act of donating, not based on scientific evidence. As a longtime Costco member, I am shocked that Costco is selling insurance from a company that discriminates in this way. To be a living organ donor requires to be in excellent health. By Costco endorsing this insurance company, Costco is actively discouraging much needed living donor organ donation. In the case of a kidney transplant recipient, a live donor kidney can increase the life of the donated kidney by 10 - 15 years over a cadaver kidney. Costco should not be actively discriminating against organ donors, nor should they endorse vendors that do discriminate. I feel Costco should drop their contract with Protective Life Insurance Company and find one of the 50% of Life Insurance companies that don't discriminate against organ donors.
Sincerely,
Priscilla
