Hamden, CT, April 22, 2006 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) applauded the Connecticut state legislature for passing and Governor M. Jodi Rell for signing into law Public Act 06-5, "An Act Prohibiting Discrimination in Life Insurance Based on Lawful Travel Destinations."  The legislation was passed on consent in the state Senate and by a vote of 144-0 in the state House of Representatives, and was signed into law by Governor Rell on April 21, 2006.

Major life insurance companies have been denying new or renewed life insurance policies to anyone who has recently traveled or who has plans to go to any country about which the U.S. State Department has issued a travel warning.  More than two dozen countries are on the list now, including Israel and Pakistan.  Once denied life insurance, applicants have sometimes found it extremely difficult or expensive to get life insurance anywhere.  David Waren, Director of the Connecticut Regional Office of the Anti-Defamation League, noted "We heard from people all over Connecticut whose applications for life insurance have been denied simply because of past or future travel to Israel, without any evidence of increased risk. This practice impacts everyone from tourists and business leaders to students studying abroad."

Public Act 06-5 prohibits life insurance companies from using a person's travel history or current travel plans as a reason to deny life insurance coverage unless the rejection is based on sound actuarial principles or is related to actual or reasonably anticipated experience. Similar laws have been passed in Maryland, New York, Washington, Illinois and California.

Waren added "Public Act 06-5 is an important milestone in ceasing discrimination in the issuance and renewal of life insurance policies based on applicants' lawful travel destinations.  It balances the need of Connecticut residents to travel abroad with the insurance industry's need to assess risk in connection with its coverage decisions.  The law allows insurance companies to do what they do best, assess risk based on bona fide statistical data, and not simply presume risk without any basis in statistics or experience."

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.