As healthcare technology evolves, we must be prepared for unintended problems & opportunities. Imagine insurance companies...

As healthcare technology evolves, we must be prepared for unintended problems & opportunities. Imagine insurance companies begin DNA testing policy holders for genes associated with increased risk of a particular cancer. Should the insurance company be able to charge the policy holder more based on a higher risk of cancer?

Expert Solution

Question: If the insurance companies begin DNS testing policy to holders for genes with increased risk of cancer, should the company charge the policy holder more based on the high cancer risk.

Sol:

A person with one of the parents having diabetes has fewer chances of developing it than the one with both parents having diabetes.

So, the tendency to develop diabetes is higher in children. However, not all the children of the same parents would develop diabetes.

Because, the chances of development of the particular disease depends on other factors like stress, lifestyle, food habits, environmental risks, etc. These factors tend to bring changes in the gene mutation which are responsible for the development of the disease.

Similarly, genetic testing helps predict certain types of cancers like breast, pancreatic, colon cancer, etc.

It checks for changes in the chromosomes, proteins, inheritance of pathogenic variant genes, etc. These variants though present in a person, there is not a confirmation that he or she will develop cancer.

It is also true that a person with higher chances of developing cancer may never develop it while another person with lower chances may develop it. So, the chances of cancer development is not confirmed.

As per ASCO, genetic testing cannot confirm that one will develop cancer for sure if the genes are present. But it can only indicate the high chances of development.

Fuurther, once a person is aware that he could develop cancer, he can adopt few changes in lifestyle and avoid developing cancer.

So, the Insurance company should not charge the policy holders more based on the high risk of cancer.

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 passed by congress currently prohibits insurance companies from such genetic testing based discrimination for health insurance.

Nightingale answered 1 year ago

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