Another reason to support Hillary-Care
What would happen if the government implemented mandatory DNA testing as a cost-cutting measure?
From the
New York Times:
Fear of Insurance Trouble Leads Many to Shun or Hide DNA Tests
Victoria Grove wanted to find out if she was destined to develop the form of emphysema that ran in her family, but she did not want to ask her doctor for the DNA test that would tell her.
She worried that she might not be able to get health insurance, or even a job, if a genetic predisposition showed up in her medical records, especially since treatment for the condition, Alpha-1, could cost over $100,000 a year. Instead, Ms. Grove sought out a service that sent a test kit to her home and returned the results directly to her.
Nor did she tell her doctor when the test revealed that she was virtually certain to get it. Knowing that she could sustain permanent lung damage without immediate treatment for her bouts of pneumonia, she made sure to visit her clinic at the first sign of infection.
But then came the day when the nurse who listened to her lungs decided she just had a cold. Ms. Grove begged for a chest X-ray. The nurse did not think it was necessary.
�It was just an ongoing battle with myself,� recalled Ms. Grove, of Woodbury, Minn. �Should I tell them now or wait till I�m sicker?�
A perfect example of something that could be used for good being used by the suits at the top to cut costs -- it is a pre-existing condition after all...
The results of a Georgetown University study:
In 7 of 92 underwriting decisions, insurance providers evaluating hypothetical applicants said they would deny coverage, charge more for premiums or exclude certain conditions from coverage based on genetic test results.
Posted by DaveH at February 23, 2008 1:11 PM