It does so by preventing a group health plan from applying a waiting period on preexisting conditions if the condition was not diagnosed or treated within six months before the plan s waiting period. If a genetic problem was diagnosed or treated within the previous six months, the maximum waiting period can be only 12 months. Nevertheless other forms of health insurance are not covered. Genetic privacy and equal access to insurance necessarily compete with the insurance industry s desire to write insurance based on sound actuarial data. Indeed, the underlying foundation of the insurance industry is the ability to discriminate based on such data.
Insurance companies are ever vigilant to minimize their risks.
Nevertheless there is no epidemic of genetic conditions and they exist at a fairly stable incidence in our society. In fact, actuarial tables used by the insurance industry already reflect the incidents of genetic conditions as part of their risk pooling. Still, demand for policy holders within the industry can lead to an assessment spiral where one company will offer discounts for those persons who submit to genetic tests and consequently soon all companies will adopt such practices in order to become competitive. The incentives to discriminate within the insurance industry remain as underwriting practices become more strict and are structured to identify and insure only healthy individuals. Legislation is the only way to address the privacy of genetic information and the accompanying discrimination.