When Debbie Wasserman Schultz was rejected for a life insurance policy in March 2005 “because of potential travel to Israel,” the company probably didn’t realize that she wasn’t just another applicant. They soon found out otherwise. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida) is a member of the House Financial Services Committee. She spoke with her Chairman, Mike Oxley (R-Ohio) and obtained his commitment that the bill she introduced, the Life Insurance Fairness for Travelers Act, will receive consideration in 2006.

Wasserman Schultz told A.M. Best that her legislation specifically prohibits an insurance company from denying life insurance based on possible future lawful travel, which she branded as an “abhorrent” industry practice. She says her bill lets carriers set the rates for that travel based on risk, but it has to be using actuarially sound principles. “You can’t just have a gut feeling that it’s more risky to travel to a particular country. You have to prove that it is.”

March 28, 2006