Committee limits HIV 'right to be forgotten' to non‑discrimination in insurance and adoption

The parliamentary health committee has finalised the text of a new law intended to implement a "right to be forgotten" in health matters, but for people living with HIV the text only recognises a right to non-discrimination. The committee agreed that people with HIV must declare their status when taking out a life insurance policy linked to a credit operation or when applying to adopt, but that declaration cannot be used to deny access or to impose higher premiums or more onerous conditions if certain medical criteria are met.

Amendments from Demòcrates and CC, approved unanimously, removed the specific phrase "right to be forgotten" from the provision that covers HIV, while preserving that concept for people who have had cancer or hepatitis C. The original proposal from the PS was substantially rewritten during committee consideration; 73 amendments and the link to insurance and reinsurance law prolonged the process. The text will be voted in plenary on Thursday.

Under the law, an applicant with HIV who is adherent to treatment and is in a clinically and biologically stable condition—documented by a report from their specialist—has the right not to be discriminated against for that condition in life-insurance contracts linked to credit. Insurers may not refuse coverage, apply different contracting procedures, impose more onerous conditions or restrictions on guarantees, or otherwise discriminate, provided the regulatory medical and biological criteria are met.

The same protections apply in adoption proceedings: applicants must declare their HIV status, but if they meet the adherence and stability requirements and provide medical documentation, they cannot be discriminated against because of their condition.

The parliamentary process also set out substantial sanctions for non-compliance. For legal entities, serious infringements may be punished with one or more of: suspension of insurance mediation activities for one to five years; or an administrative fine of up to 1% of the net turnover in the immediately preceding financial year, with a minimum of €6,001. Where applicable, fines may also reach the amount of profits obtained or losses avoided through the infringement, and a reprimand may be published in the official bulletin (BOPA).

For individuals, deliberate or negligent serious infringements carry administrative fines of between €6,001 and €12,000. Less serious infringements carry lower penalties: for companies, up to 0.75% of prior-year net turnover (not less than €2,500); for individuals, fines between €2,500 and €6,000; and, where determinable, fines up to the amount of illicitly obtained profits or avoided losses plus a private admonition.