· May 15, 2012

Insurance, Gender Rating and Sex Discrimination

Innovation Ohio released a new report today as part of its new Ohio Women’s Watch initiative.  The Report, “Insurance, Gender Rating and Sex Discrimination,” was done in collaboration with the National Women’s Law Center in Washington, D.C. Among the report’s principal findings are:

• A typical 40-year old Ohio woman buying an individual policy pays anywhere from 20 to 50% more than a 40-year old male.
• 60% of insurance plans sold in Ohio charge non-smoking women higher premiums than male smokers.
• Gender rating mark-ups vary widely between plans calling into question the actuarial justification for rate increases for women.
• In addition to driving up costs for individual policy-holders, gender ratings increase group insurance costs for many small businesses, particularly those employing large numbers of women.
• 14 states have banned or limited gender rating in the individual insurance market, while 17 have done so for the group insurance market.

Read the report. Read the press release.