Thursday, August 18, 2011

As DNA technology increases, will health insurance companies be able to use genetic screening to deny coverage

to anyone whose genes aren't in perfect working order?
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I think so, because they will know exactly what your health problems are going to be. If they can someday screen you and say, "hey, at age 38 you will get breast cancer", you probably won't be able to get health insurance. You would be a "bad investment." Personally, I think the government will have to enact laws to keep insurance companies from doing this. Pretty soon, people will want to discriminate based on your genes! They have quite a bit of our genes mapped out. They know the defects that cause some specific diseases, but the key is figuring out what codes for traits that are normal. Hair color, etc. Genetic screening will definitely help save lives because you know what you need to do to prevent certain disorders, but there will be a problem with health insurance. I'm sure, however, that the government will do something about it, so it probably won't be a problem. It will be more of a prevention method.
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