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Genetics constitutes, as we all know, the next new “final frontier” in medicine. It holds out huge promises for the future of medical science. Associated and likened to a treasure mine, and rightly so. Genetics truly offers a vast wealth of previously untapped medical capital and the insurance companies have been quick to notice.

The health care industry as a whole is slowly using genetic screening in deciding treatment regimens and in devising preventative measure for patients. The insurance industry has also taken a keen interest in the use of genetic testing for the purposes of determining who is at risk for which diseases. Ultimately, this information might be used assist them in setting premiums for individuals. The danger here is that genetic science is still in its infancy. The mapping of the human gene code was only recently completed. There is still, as yet many diseases and conditions of which there are no known genetics markers. Carriers of the known genetic markers would argue that setting premiums based on of their test results would constitute unfair manipulation of premium calculations. It could be argued that for each known genetic marker for a condition, there could be thousands more diseases and conditions with genetic determination but without any known and documented markers.

Using genetic markers in determining the actual risk an individual might have, is in practice more difficult as genetic risk is not the single or most important factor responsible for causing an illness. Several other factors, including diet, exercise, exposure to chemicals and stress among others, may all play equally important roles in causing diseases in those with genetic predisposition to a disease condition. If allowed, we might get situations whereby, insurance companies refuse to insure certain individuals or quote premiums too high that the individual or family becomes in essence, uninsurable.

The government has stressed that healthcare is a collective effort and thus, everyone has to contribute something. The money used for the treatment of any member of the community will have to come from the contributions of the community of insured members. The surplus would become profits for the insurance. The government, keen to avoid a healthcare catastrophe has warned that genetic testing should not be used in calculating premiums, or at least should be used with caution.

Since life insurance is not regarded as essential by the government, the effects of genetic testing being adopted as a risk assessment tool will probably feature prominently in this area.

Genetic testing still is an expensive exercise. Though it will add to the predictive array of tools used by insurers to set premiums, its use is still shrouded in controversy. Presently, insurers set premiums using information about an individual s health, lifestyle, family history and investigations ranging from blood testing and heart monitoring to HIV tests.

Genetic testing may still have a lot to offer the insurance companies, but to what extent it will be used will depend on the speed of development in the field and the predictive accuracy of any formulas for risk calculation.

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