Bill Text: IL HB0228 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that an insurer or producer authorized to issue policies of insurance in the State may not make a distinction or otherwise discriminate between persons, reject an applicant, cancel a policy, or demand or require a higher rate of premium for reasons based solely upon the basis that an applicant or insured has been convicted of a felony.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-04 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB0228 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HB0228-Introduced.html

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102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2021 and 2022 HB0228 Introduced , by Rep. Rita Mayfield SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
215 ILCS 5/236 from Ch. 73, par. 848
Amends the Illinois Insurance Code. Provides that an insurer or producer authorized to issue policies of insurance in the State may not make a distinction or otherwise discriminate between persons, reject an applicant, cancel a policy, or demand or require a higher rate of premium for reasons based solely upon the basis that an applicant or insured has been convicted of a felony.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning regulation.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Illinois Insurance Code is amended by
changing Section 236 as follows:
(215 ILCS 5/236) (from Ch. 73, par. 848)
Sec. 236. Discrimination prohibited.
(a) No life company doing business in this State shall
make or permit any distinction or discrimination in favor of
individuals among insured persons of the same class and equal
expectation of life in the issuance of its policies, in the
amount of payment of premiums or rates charged for policies of
insurance, in the amount of any dividends or other benefits
payable thereon, or in any other of the terms and conditions of
the contracts it makes.
(b) No life company shall make or permit any distinction
or discrimination against individuals with disabilities in the
amount of payment of premiums or rates charged for policies of
life insurance, in the amount of any dividends or death
benefits payable thereon, or in any other terms and conditions
of the contract it makes unless the rate differential is based
on sound actuarial principles and a reasonable system of
classification and is related to actual or reasonably

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anticipated experience directly associated with the
disability.
(c) No life company shall refuse to insure, or refuse to
continue to insure, or limit the amount or extent or kind of
coverage available to an individual, or charge an individual a
different rate for the same coverage solely because of
blindness or partial blindness. With respect to all other
conditions, including the underlying cause of the blindness or
partial blindness, persons who are blind or partially blind
shall be subject to the same standards of sound actuarial
principles or actual or reasonably anticipated experience as
are sighted persons. Refusal to insure includes denial by an
insurer of disability insurance coverage on the grounds that
the policy defines "disability" as being presumed in the event
that the insured loses his or her eyesight. However, an
insurer may exclude from coverage disabilities consisting
solely of blindness or partial blindness when such condition
existed at the time the policy was issued.
(d) No life company shall refuse to insure or to continue
to insure an individual solely because of the individual's
status as a member of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast
Guard, Marines, or Navy or solely because of the individual's
status as a member of the National Guard or Armed Forces
Reserve.
(e) An insurer or producer authorized to issue policies of
insurance in this State may not make a distinction or

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otherwise discriminate between persons, reject an applicant,
cancel a policy, or demand or require a higher rate of premium
for reasons based solely upon an applicant's or insured's past
lawful travel experiences or future lawful travel plans. This
subsection (e) does not prohibit an insurer or producer from
excluding or limiting coverage under a policy or refusing to
offer the policy based upon past lawful travel or future
lawful travel plans or from charging a different rate for that
coverage when that action is based upon sound actuarial
principles or is related to actual or reasonably expected
experience and is not based solely on the destination's
inclusion on the United States Department of State's travel
warning list.
(f) An insurer or producer authorized to issue policies of
insurance in this State may not make a distinction or
otherwise discriminate between persons, reject an applicant,
cancel a policy, or demand or require a higher rate of premium
for reasons based solely upon the basis that an applicant or
insured has been convicted of a felony.
(Source: P.A. 99-143, eff. 7-27-15.)