Emanuel Introduces “Life Insurance Anti-Discrimination in Travel Act”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today U.S. Representative Rahm Emanuel (IL) introduced the Life Insurance Anti-Discrimination in Travel Act.  The bill prohibits life insurance companies from using a person’s previous lawful travel experiences as a basis for denying life insurance policies. 

“Life insurance companies have no right to deny coverage based on travel history,” Emanuel said. “Obviously, assessing risk should remain the core of the life insurance industry, but whether or not an applicant has visited a specific location, such as Israel, should not be a factor in determining future risk.” 

Many citizens who have traveled in the past to Israel or the other countries on the U.S. State Department’s current “Travel Warnings” list have been subject to higher premiums or outright exclusion.  The Life Insurance Anti-Discrimination in Travel Act would make it unlawful to deny, cancel, change terms, rates or conditions of life insurance coverage based on lawful past travel. There is also a growing effort at the state level to ban the discriminatory practice, with bills signed into law in Illinois, Maryland and New York.

Original cosponsors of the Life Insurance Anti-Discrimination in Travel Act include: U.S. Representatives Anthony D. Weiner (D-NY), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Gary L. Ackerman (D-NY), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Howard L. Berman (D-CA), Steve Israel (D-NY), Barney Frank (D-MA) and Steven R. Rothman (D-NJ).

Emanuel has been a leader on protecting consumer’s right to fair treatment; he introduced identical legislation in the 108th Congress.