Does Life Insurance Vary By State? 
When states try to be unusually restrictive they often penalize the insurance consumers in that state . For example , a few states do n't allow different rates based on gender . When that happens , most life insurance companies simply charge females the male rates . It penalizes the females around 20 % compared to what they pay in other states . New York 's restrictive requirement on insurance companies raises a lot of money for the state but greatly limits the consumer choices to just a few . Many products are not available to them that they could buy if they moved to any other state . Kentucky 's law about no new contestable period on replacement policies does protect consumers but it also causes some companies to choose not to offer products in that state . State insurance laws can be a double edged sword . 