Editor’s Note: Listen to the governor’s remarks at the bill signing by clicking on the player below.
Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter signed a law Monday that bans providers of individual insurance policies from charging different rates to men and women for identical products, The Denver Business Journal reports. House Bill 1008 — sponsored by Reps. Sue Schafer, D-Wheat Ridge, and Beth McCann, D-Denver — puts Colorado into the majority of states that have similar laws. Though controversial when Schafer first introduced it in 2009, the legislation eventually got the backing even of insurance companies and passed the House 59-2 before getting its OK from the Senate by a largely partisan 20-13 count.
