Acting Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Michael Humphreys announced the Pennsylvania Insurance Department (PID) has submitted a statement of policy to the Pennsylvania Bulletin that will allow insurers to ask applicants to voluntarily provide race and ethnicity data on insurance applications in an effort to promote equity initiatives. The new statement of the policy ends the enforcement of a prohibition on data collection originally published in 1969. Pennsylvania’s insurance laws clearly prohibit discrimination, including discrimination based on race and ethnicity. PID clarifies that both questions as to “race or color” and data collection will be permitted when asked or collected in a manner that promotes health equity. Unfair discrimination remains prohibited.
