Genetic testing is the crystal ball of health predictions. A few strokes of a cotton swab can tell you if you’re prone to cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and/or any other hereditary diseases. Now, the life insurers argue that they need the information too.
Genetic testings have been around since late 80s when biological elements like hair, skin, blood and other stuff became the most important evidence to convict a criminal. The use of genetics to determine paternity has remained very popular until today. You perhaps won’t believe but footballs used during Super Bowls are marked with DNA to prevent counterfeiting.
Nowadays, modern genetics allows people to equip themselves with vital information about their bodies, and even know if they are predisposed to certain health risks.
The life insurance implication
As voluntary gene testings became very popular, the laws became stringent too to prevent discrimination based on the results of such tests. After 13 long years of debate, in 2008, President George W. Bush signed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination (GINA) Act, thus effectively protecting Americans against discrimination from employers and health insurance companies. Unfortunately, GINA applies to only health insurance policies. And this has given companies selling life, disability, and long-term care insurances a privilege so that they can deny coverage based on human genetic. Many feel that if such discriminations continue or become popular, the regulator will be forced to introduce new bills to prevent such bad practices within the industry. “If the carriers try and do their own genetic testing, then there will absolutely be a need to legislate against life carriers using such testing to underwrite policies,” said Glenn Kantor co-founder and attorney at Kantor & Kantor, a Los Angeles-based law firm. “I think the carriers know that if they take that action, legislation will follow.”How much fair is this?
The life insurance carriers put stress that - as it has always been - in order to set fair monthly premiums, for both present and future customers, it’s significant that they know the threats they’re exposed to. According to many industry experts, it’s the duty of the underwriter to underwrite fairly and precisely. And in order to do that, an underwriter should have access to all the necessary medical information, and secrets, if any. However, in the long run, providing life insurance companies with genetic profiles of their existing or potential clients, though highly controversial, may become necessary. But if the government goes on preventing the life insurance companies from obtaining genetic profiles of their customers, or in a case where one party (customer) has the required information, and another party (insurer) hasn’t, situations may get worse. According to a study by Robert Green, a researcher in the genetics department of Harvard Medical School, it was found that people who discovered they have a gene associated with Alzheimer’s, are five times more likely to buy long-term care policies than the average people. Evidently, such findings have deeply saddened the life insurance sector. Without any clear legislation in place, both the insurers and consumers are left in oblivion. Not having the necessary information is taking a toll on the insurers. And for the consumers, it’s a question of privacy. It’s almost impossible to cater to the needs of all the parties.Blog Category