Florida regulators announced a hearing will be held Friday to probe whether auto insurers' use of education levels and job type to rate risks amounts to racial discrimination

Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said he is concerned that the use of education and occupation as factors in determining rates may discriminate against racial minorities.

As an example, the state Office of Insurance Regulation noted that a single, 23-year-old male insuring a 2000 Chevy Malibu would pay different rates based upon on his occupation and education.

In Hialeah, Florida, which is near Miami, the OIR said that such a policyholder would pay $4,225.36 for coverage if he were a mechanic with no high school diploma. If the same individual were an engineer with a Ph.D., however, the OIR said he would only pay $1,403.59 for the same coverage with an identical driving record, coverage, deductible and vehicle usage.

Jonathan Kees, a spokesman for the OIR, said that the issue has been brewing for some time. In announcing the hearing, the OIR noted that a letter sent by the Consumer Federation of America to the president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners last year contended that ratings based on education and occupation would be discriminatory against African Americans and Hispanics.

New Jersey also considered a similar proposal last year, with a state Senate holding a hearing last June at which insurance groups suggested that limiting the ability of insurers to calculate rates could have a negative impact on the state auto insurance market.