life insurance – Sandy Rosenberg

Sometimes your only option is to withdraw your bill and wait for next year.

Make that set the stage for next year.

Ken Birnbaum is a life insurance agent and former president of the Cross Country Improvement Association. Last year, he told me that a client had been denied coverage for any travel to the West Bank of Israel.

Today, I concluded that the bill would not pass this session.

I wrote Ken the following letter.

Ken,

As you know, the insurance industry proposed an amendment to HB 352 at the bill hearing. That made it necessary for me to seek a compromise that would protect travelers to Israel and other countries and not be opposed by the industry. After discussing several options with members of the Health and Government Operations Committee (HGO), I have reluctantly decided that we cannot pass an acceptable bill at this session of the General Assembly. Consequently, I have withdrawn the legislation.

HB 352 is based upon model language provided by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. I have informed the chairman of HGO that I will research how this language has been implemented in other states and whether those jurisdictions have considered the changes proposed to HB 352 by the life insurance industry.

With that information in hand, I will resume discussions with my fellow legislators and the insurance industry.

I will keep you informed of those conversations.

Sandy

I thought we had already solved this problem.

Ken Birnbaum, a constituent, wrote me that one of his life insurance clients had been issued a policy denying coverage for future travel to Gaza or the West Bank.

I checked with legislative staff.

Ten years ago, we prohibited using an insured’s “past lawful travel” to deny coverage.

Ken was at the witness table beside me today, as was Muhammad Jameel, representing the Islamic Society of Baltimore. His mother lives in Pakistan.

Written testimony from Catholic Relief Services also helped us make the point that House Bill 352 would affect a broad group of consumers.

The bill would allow an insurance company to deny or limit coverage with respect to future travel where “there is an ongoing armed conflict involving the military of a sovereign nation foreign to the country of conflict.”

The life insurance industry proposed an amendment that would add “an active civil insurgency.”

The devil will be in the details.