What Insurers Can’t Do Under New State Domestic Violence Bills
- Deny a claim based on domestic violence.
- Request or disclose personal information about domestic violence.
- Deny current coverage or renewal of coverage based on domestic violence.
- Restrict coverage or charge higher premiums due to domestic violence.
- Terminate coverage granted through the abuser’s insurance plan.
Discrimination Against Domestic Violence Victims
Legislators in five states – California, Georgia, Illinois, New Mexico
and Washington – introduced bills on January 30 that will prohibit
insurance companies from discriminating against survivors of domestic
violence. Four of the seven legislators sponsoring the measures are
CPA Flemming Fellows.
The bills would make it unlawful for insurance companies to use medical
reports, medical databases, public court documents and credit reports
to identify victims of domestic violence and then deny, limit or set
charges based on victims’ increased health risks. They also provide
civil penalties for violators of these standards.
As of 1994, eight of the sixteen largest insurers in the country were
using domestic violence as a factor in making decisions such as whether
to issue insurance coverage and how much to charge for it, according
to a recent report compiled by the Women’s Law Project and the
Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Half of the
insurers responding to a 1996 llinois Department of Insurance survey
reported favoring use of such criteria.
CPA coordinated the multi-state introduction of the bills.
The bills were introduced by:
- Assemblywoman Grace Napolitano, California. (916-445-0965)
- Senator Connie Stokes, Georgia. (404-593-3999)
- RRepresentative Carol Ronen, Illinois. (773-769-1717)
- Representative Mimi Stewart, New Mexico. (505-986-4211)
- Representative Cathy Wolfe, primary sponsor, Washington. (360-786-7992)
- Representative Dawn Mason, co-sponsor, Washington. (360-786-7944)
- Representative Eileen Cody, co-sponsor, Washington. (360-786-7978)
CPA President and CEO Linda Tarr-Whelan called the initiative “an innovative
approach by women legislators across the country to raise visibility and take
action to correct an unacceptable practice.”
During a time when health care and insurance reforms are on the front-burner
of the national agenda, to allow such a practice to continue is intolerable,
Tarr-Whelan noted.
Between 2 and 4 million women per year are subjected to physical violence,
according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Women subjected
to violence by intimates or partners account for 30 percent of visits to
emergency rooms and 1.4 million doctor visits each year.
“Women will no longer be forced to make the terrible choice between silently
staying with an abuser or losing medical or life insurance,” said New Mexico
Representative Stewart.
Under all the state legislation proposed, civil penalties and fines may
be imposed on insurers who violate the law. In Illinois and New Mexico,
the legislation also provides for criminal penalties for willful discrimination
against a victim.
For further information on the bills, contact Anne Mosle at CPA, 202-956-5127,
or the individual legislators listed earlier in this article.
