Legislative action taken in Iowa this year prohibits insurance companies from discriminating against persons with HD based on genetic testing results.
Gov. Chet Culver signed Senate File 2215 into law in April, which is meant to prevent genetic information, such as a positive HD test, from being used to deny someone health insurance, according to Sheldon Kurtz, UI Percy Bordwell Professor of Law. The bill also says insurance companies cannot set rates based on genetic information.
"We don't want health insurance companies, based on these genetic tests, to exclude people from coverage," Kurtz said. "I think it's an overall positive statute for people who might have a genetic marker."
The bill's importance could ultimately be determined by the enactment of the federal health care reform bill, Kurtz said. If the federal bill holds up as it's currently signed into law, all insurance discrimination based on pre-existing conditions will be prohibited in 2014. But for now, the bill provides needed protection for Iowa HD families.
"If a person is thinking about getting the genetic test, this bill ought to make the person feel comfortable that the results cannot be disclosed to any insurance company that could use the results against them adversely," Kurtz said.
The bill does not, however, Kurtz said, protect against an insurance company asking for or obtaining information about an individual's family history and using that deny health insurance or set rates. Kurtz said that presents an uncomfortable dilemma for individuals who may be at risk for HD who may feel compelled to get the genetic test to show insurers that they don't carry the HD gene expansion. For that reason, Kurtz is hoping the parts of the health care reform bill that protect individuals from discrimination based on pre-existing condition holds up.
"The world I'd like to see is the one where there's no incentive to have the test if you don't want to have it," Kurtz said, "and health insurance companies can't make any adverse decisions about you based on if you have the test or don't have the test."
According to the Des Moines Register, the bill was prompted by several women in Dubuque who wanted to know if they had genetic markers related to breast cancer, and were afraid their genetic test results would be used against them by insurers.
Also included in the bill is the requirement that informed and written consent be obtained from an individual before genetic testing is performed.
To read the full text of the new bill, click here. |
