Kinkead, Friel launch bill to hold healthcare executives accountable
Legislation establishing penalties for CEOs of insurance companies responsible for harm
Rep. Emily Kinkead, Rep. Paul Friel June 8, 2026 | 3:38 PM
HARRISBURG, June 8 – State Reps. Emily Kinkead and Paul Friel today introduced legislation aimed at holding insurance company executives accountable when coverage denials for medically necessary care result in serious injury or death.
House Bill 2611 would create a new category of aggravated assault applicable to insurance company chief executive officers when a covered individual suffers serious bodily injury or dies because of an adverse benefit determination involving a medically necessary service.
“Our healthcare system should prioritize patients, not profits,” said Kinkead, D-Allegheny. “When insurance executives -- rather than treating medical professionals -- determine patient care, and a decision to deny care leads to serious harm or death, there must be accountability. We cannot allow systems with perverse profit incentives to continue operating at the expense of people’s health and safety.”
“Health insurance companies should not be making healthcare decisions without accountability. We have an obligation to remove profit incentives from decisions to deny care -- decisions that should be driven by medical necessity, not financial considerations,” said Friel, D-Chester. “This legislation ensures that CEOs face the same real consequences of their companies’ decisions as their customers do.”
Kinkead and Friel said that, according to data from the Pennsylvania Insurance Department, individual-market qualified health plans denied more than 3 million claims in Pennsylvania in 2024.
The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.