Public Act 095-0163
 		





HB2786 Enrolled
LRB095 09637 KBJ 29837 b






    AN ACT concerning insurance.

 
    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 handicaps or 
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 anticipated experience directly
associated with the 
handicap or 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 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.
No life company may refuse to insure, refuse to 
continue to insure, 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 for reasons 
associated with an applicant's or insured's past lawful travel 
experiences.
(Source: P.A. 93-850, eff. 7-30-04.)