Under Australian law, life insurance applicants must disclose any known genetic test results if requested by the insurer. This includes results from approved clinical genetic tests, but also less reliable findings from research or direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests, if they are known to the applicant.
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Australian insurers can increase premiums, exclude insurance cover for certain conditions such as cancer, or refuse insurance cover altogether purely based on your genetic test results.
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Many other countries have protected consumers by restricting or banning the use of genetic information for insurance altogether. In the UK, a moratorium established in 2001 sets out an agreement between the government and the insurance industry not to ask for, or use, genetic test results (except for Huntington’s Disease for policies worth over £500,000).
Canada has just passed legislation prohibiting insurance companies from asking for any genetic test results. And many European countries such as Belgium, Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden have implemented outright bans or other regulation in accordance with the Council of Europe’s Oviedo (human rights and biomedicine) Convention.
Full article by Jane Tiller, Ethical, Legal & Social Adviser - Public Health Genomics and Paul Lacaze, Head, Public Health Genomics Program, both of Monash University: theconversation.com/austral...
Neil