Can I Identify as Nonbinary When Buying Life Insurance?
For now, the answer seems to be “no”. You’ll likely only see female and male options on life insurance applications. In a February 2020 blog post, life insurance company Haven Life stated, “Haven Life is developing an application that is inclusive of nonbinary people.” But in December 2020, the insurer’s online application continues to only offer female and male gender options. We’ve researched multiple insurance carriers–major insurers that offer multiple insurance lines and small providers that specialize in life insurance–and all continue to only offer female and male gender markers in their online quote systems and applications. So, for now, if you identify as nonbinary, you’ll likely have to choose a female or male gender when applying for life insurance.
Why Gender Influences Life Insurance Policies
Life insurance companies base your premium on your life expectancy. Factors that impact your life expectancy can include your:
AgeSexHealth history (yours and your biological family’s)HobbiesJobPolicy typeTobacco use
Most insurers include sex or gender when determining your premium because females have a life expectancy of 81.1 years and males 76.1, based on 2017 statistics from the Centers for Disease Control; that’s why women sometimes pay less than men for life insurance. For example, according to sample rates provided by JRC Insurance Group, a 40-year-old woman can buy a 30-year, $500,000 term life policy for $40.91 per month, while a man will pay $50.53. So, a male policyholder would pay $3,463.20 more than a female over the course of the 30-year term.
Has Gender Always Played a Role in Life Insurance Rates?
Insurance discrimination has existed for decades. In the 1960s, the Civil Rights Act (CRA) banned setting insurance premiums based on race. However, gender-based pricing discrimination wasn’t considered part of the CRA’s anti-discrimination laws, and was allowed to continue up until the mid-1980s, when Montana became the first state to ban gender discrimination for life insurance. But no other states have followed suit. There has been a little movement on this front in other types of insurance, though. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 banned the use of gender-based pricing in health insurance. And in 2019, then-California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones imposed a regulation that bans gender-based pricing in auto insurance. Federal legislators have tried and failed to pass laws that ban gender-based insurance pricing, but that doesn’t mean the issue is settled. In fact, in 2016, the Federal Insurance Office published the Report on Protection of Insurance Consumers and Access to Insurance, which calls out gender discrimination in several insurance lines.
How To Find Out More About Life Insurance Rules in Your State
To learn more about insurance rules and regulations, go to the website of your state’s department of insurance. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners offers an interactive map on its website. Just click on your state to find a link to your state’s department of insurance and the name and contact information of its top officer.
