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insurance.
North Dakota law distinguishes between life insurance, on
the one hand, and accident and health insurance, on the other.
Title 26.1 of the North Dakota Century Code is styled
"Insurance", and within this title are separate chapters entitled
"Life Insurance" (chapter 26.1-33) and "Accident and Health
Insurance" (chapter 26.1-36). Insurance companies selling both
types of insurance are required to report separately on their
activities to the North Dakota Commissioner of Insurance.
Although chapter 26.1-33 does not provide a definition of life
insurance, the chapter does mandate certain mortality tables and
interest rate assumptions for life insurance sold in the State,
see N.D. Cent. Code secs. 26.1-33-22 and 26.1-33-23 (1995), which
are not required with respect to accident and health insurance.
Most significantly, with respect to petitioners' argument that a
death benefit transforms an accident policy into a life insurance
policy, chapter 26.1-36 provides a definition of accident and
health insurance that encompasses the provision of death
benefits, as follows: "'Accident and health insurance policy'
includes any contract policy insuring against loss resulting from
sickness or bodily injury, or death by accident, or both." N.D.
Cent. Code sec. 26.1-36-02 (1995) (emphasis added). Thus, North
Dakota law contemplates that accident policies may contain death
benefits. This feature does not result in their classification
as life insurance policies. We conclude that petitioner sold
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