News

In the 2021 legislative session, the Montana State Legislature enacted an amendment to § 49- 2-309, Montana Code Annotated, which became effective on January 1, 2022, and changes the requirement that applied Montana’s constitutional equal protection requirement to insurance products and retirement plans.

With respect to insurance products subject to Insurance Compact filing and review, a newly added subsection provides, “It is not a violation of the prohibition against sex or marital status discrimination in this section for a person to use accepted ratemaking methodologies based on sex or marital status in establishing insurance premium rates.” § 49- 2-309(4), Montana Code Annotated. The amendment became effective for insurance products issued on or after January 1, 2022. The amendment permits the use of sex-distinct premium rates.

For previously approved filings, please review FIN 2021-2. This FIN outlines the process for filers wishing to update a filing previously approved for Montana or to add Montana to a new or approved filing to use ratemaking methodologies based on sex in establishing insurance premium rates in life insurance and annuity product filings for new business after January 1, 2022.

As outlined in FIN 2021-2, the Compact SERFF submission requirement for sex-distinct or unisex policies was revised on January 1, 2022 to eliminate the requirements referencing Montana, as follows:

Sex Distinct or Unisex Policies Submission Requirement: State whether the policy is sex-distinct or unisex. If sex-distinct, the company shall confirm that the policy will not be issued in any employer-employee plans that are subject to the Norris decision and/or Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. If Montana is included in this filing or added to the filing after approval, please confirm that the company will issue the forms included in this filing to Montana residents on a unisex basis only, and will not issue to Montana residents on a sex-distinct basis.

For any Compact filing drafts that were created prior to January 1, 2022, you will not see this update made.

If you have any questions regarding FIN 2021-2 or filing with the Compact in general, please contact the Insurance Compact Office.