Florida Office of Insurance Regulation Releases 2013 Report on Life Insurance Limitations Based on Foreign Travel (Freedom to Travel Act)
Feb 28, 2013
Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty submitted the Office of Insurance Regulation’s (“OIR”) 2013 Report on Life Insurance Limitations Based on Foreign Travel Experiences to the Florida Legislature today, February 28, 2013.
The Report contains results from an annual survey of insurers conducted by the OIR pertaining to compliance with the 2006 Freedom to Travel Act, which limits insurers’ ability to deny coverage or increase premiums for life insurance based on insureds’ past or future lawful foreign travel
To view the Report, click here. Reports from previous years can be accessed by clicking here.
An OIR news release is reprinted below.
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Florida Office of Insurance Regulation Releases 2013 Freedom to Travel Report
Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty submitted the “2013 Report on Life Insurance Limitations Based on Foreign Travel Experiences” to the Florida Legislature today, February 28, 2013.
To view the Report, click here.
The report details implementation of the “Freedom to Travel Act,” which was passed in 2006 and codified into law at Section 626.9541(1)(dd), Florida Statutes. The legislation placed limitations on insurance companies’ ability to deny coverage or increase premiums for life insurance based on past or future foreign lawful travel.
“This is the seventh year of this report and it highlights the success of legislative and regulatory actions taken to prevent unfair discrimination for life insurance and annuities policyholders and applicants,” Commissioner McCarty said. “We appreciate the insurance industry’s cooperation with this important legislation preserving Floridians’ rights to travel freely outside of the United States.”
Two administrative action fines/penalties of $21,000 were imposed in 2012 on two companies that self-reported the violations for travel to Mexico and Venezuela prior to the 2012 report. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation is currently reviewing three potential violations that were self-reported from three companies involving denial of coverage for travel to Israel, Colombia and the Bahamas.
To view previous reports, visit the Industry Data and Reports page on the OIR Web site.
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