Friday, January 18, 2013

GINA ALLOWS life, LTD and LTC companies to use your genetic data against you

But, hey, it can't be used in medical underwriting.  That is such a beautiful illustration of legislative genius.  


There’s a federal law that’s supposed to protect people from having their own genes used against them, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, or GINA. Under GINA, it’s illegal for an employer to fire someone based on his genes, and it’s illegal for health insurers to raise rates or to deny coverage because of someone’s genetic code. But the law has a loophole: It only applies to health insurance. It doesn’t say anything about companies that sell life insurance, disability insurance or long-term-care insurance.

Source: NPR.