GENEALOGY-DNA-L Archives

Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2007-09 > 1188747847


From: "Ken Nordtvedt" <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] DNA Security and protection
Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2007 09:44:07 -0600
References: <674101.1709.qm@web84309.mail.re1.yahoo.com>


----- Original Message -----
From: "marianne dillow" <>


I have never been talking about hiding anything from an insurance company. I
was thinking more about in terms of a situation where if any of us has a
mutation that could cause a disease .......somewhere down the line... maybe
20-30 years from now.... and a insurance company putting a clause in a
insurance policy of denying coverage to someone just because they have a
certain mutation in their DNA.

[[[[ The recent messages of insurance company bashing are part of a long
tradition on this site. Periodically this issue has flared in connection
with the growing availabilities of detailed genetic testing. What caught my
eye was the rather one-sided nature of the demands on the "companies".
Insurance is not a simple concept, especially in an era of rapid growth of
affordable information due to scientific and technical innovations. And
ultimately insurance is an arrangement or bargain between the policy
holders, with the "companies" acting as intermediary brokers bringing all
the policy holders together (for a fee, of course). If some insurance
customers can hide their risk factors, the cost is ultimately carried by the
other customers in higher rates. Or if certain individual risk factors can
be taken off the table in determining coverage or individual rates, the
costs are again borne by others. Then, of course, so-called insurance will
become a highly political thing, becoming social benefits policy rather than
insurance. You can usually tell when insurance gets replaced by social
policy. One's choice of whether to participate or not usually is eliminated
in the latter.

If genetic tests can indicate probabilities of eventual very costly medical
problems, why wouldn't other people in the potentially affected insurance
pool, the ones who pay the insurance premiums, perhaps be interested in
having such information available in the underwriting decision process?
Insurance is all about probabilities. There are some ironic and difficult
issues on this issue in the face of rapidly changing possible knowledge of
medical risk factors. It's not primarily an issue of good guys versus the
companies. Ken ]]]]



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