Proposed Bill Would Change Montana’s Unique Insurance Rating System

Montana is the only state in the U.S. that has unisex rates for all insurance. A bill in the Legislature seeks to undo that.

House Bill 379, sponsored by House Majority Leader Sue Vinton, R-Billings, would allow insurance companies to charge different rates for males and females.

The bill passed the House of Representatives 70-28 last month before moving to the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee, which held a hearing for the bill Wednesday.

Bob Biskupiak is the deputy insurance commissioner at the Montana State Auditor’s Office, which supports the bill.

He said Wednesday that charging one rate for everyone is unfair. ‘Why should teenage girls be subsidizing the young male drivers out there,’ Biskupiak said.