There is concern that to reduce costs, insurers and employers will exclude healthy individuals who have genetic risks of future illnesses. There is little credible evidence that genetic discrimination is now occurring. However, reports of the increasing predictive power of genetics have prompted the adoption of measures prohibiting the use of genetic information as a basis for discrimination. A federal law bars genetic discrimination by group health insurers, and an executive order bars genetic discrimination in federal employment. Congress is considering several bills that would impose a broader federal prohibition on genetic discrimination.
Most states already prohibit genetic discrimination by health insurers, employers, or both.
Ironically, the genetic anti-discrimination measures cease to protect a person at risk for a genetic disorder when the disorder actually occurs. More general anti-discrimination laws may, however, protect persons with expressed, or existing, genetic disorders. For example, laws barring employment discrimination against persons with disabilities protect persons whose disabilities are caused by genetic disorders. But insurance laws permit consideration of an applicant's medical history, including expressed genetic disorders, in underwriting health coverage. One important reason to prohibit genetic discrimination is that the information on which it is based may be wrong.