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The Economics Of Insurance Classification: The Sound Of One Invisible Hand Clapping, Leah Wortham

Scholarly Articles

In an earlier article, I questioned the fairness of the status quo in insurance classification and its regulation and challenged the claim of insurers and most regulators that classification is a neutral, scientific process based on statistical differences. I also disputed the contention that refined classifications are encouraged or required by state law.

Here I turn to the validity of economic analyses of refined classification for the personal lines of insurance generally purchased by individuals: automobile, homeowner's, renter's, health, life, and disability insurance. My conclusions differ from much of what has appeared recently in writings on classification in law reviews …

Insurance Classification: Too Important To Be Left To The Actuaries, Leah Wortham

Scholarly Articles

This Article classifies most of the public debate about classification as coming from one of two perspectives labeled traditional fair discrimination and antidiscrimination. Proponents of the status quo in classification and its regulation justify that status quo as fair discrimination. They argue that fair discrimination is both desirable and a reflection of a long-standing public policy judgment embodied in state law. Part I finds the assertion that fair discrimination is fair wanting in theory and even more deficient in practice, and rejects the contention that state law reflects a requirement or even a judgment about the wisdom of this approach. …