By CHRIS DANIELS consumer reporter
Health insurers are edging towards the introduction of genetic testing as the industry tries to calm consumer fears of unfair gene discrimination.
Health and life insurance companies say they are watching overseas developments closely, as tests for genetic disorders become cheaper and more popular.
Many US states ban insurance companies from asking customers to take genetic tests but Australian insurers are allowed to use them to determine risk.
Predisposition to diseases such as bowel and breast cancer can be shown in such tests, along with the presence of actual diseases such as the degenerative disorder Huntington's.
Public apprehension about tests similar to those featured in the movie Gattaca, where genetic profiles were used to discriminate against those with potential physical flaws, has convinced insurers that they must tread carefully with the new technology.
Consumer Affairs Minister Phillida Bunkle has said that Parliament should look into the privacy implications of insurers asking for genetic information.
Andrea Pettett, executive director of the Health Funds Association, the New Zealand health insurers industry body, said the tests were not yet widely available and no company asked customers to take them.
It is illegal under the Human Rights Act for a company to refuse coverage to someone because of a medical condition, but it could charge higher premiums to reflect the risk.
Big insurers with a wide pool of customers would probably not be interested in genetic testing as they would have enough healthy people paying premiums to cover those who got sick at an early age.
Andrea Pettett said: "It's important people don't get too alarmed and think we're going to price them out of the market or turn them down. If we did that, with all this new knowledge coming along, we wouldn't have any customers left.
"It all depends on just how available these tests start to become. Certainly, insurers will need to start understanding what implications they have for their business. I can't see anyone being truly disadvantaged."
Companies should be allowed to ask potential customers if they had already taken a genetic test and see the results, to avoid people signing up for costly insurance on finding out they were likely to get sick.
David Seedhouse, professor of health and social ethics at the Auckland University of Technology, said that if insurance companies used genetic tests to charge some customers higher premiums, they should also offer cheaper products to those with less risk.
Of greater concern to Professor Seedhouse was the potential for attempts to eliminate certain disabilities altogether.
"That becomes very scary," he said.
Insurance companies' interest in the topic was predictable, as they effectively discriminated against people already, through age and family history.
Wary insurers cast eye over genetic testing
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