The House of Commons
Select Committee on Science and Technology will today (7 February) question representatives of three insurance companies about their policies with regard to genetic testing. Following the
Government's decision in 1998 not to impose a moratorium on the use of genetic test results in insurance risk assessment, but instead to set up the
Genetics and Insurance Committee (GAIC) to assess the actuarial validity of tests the insurance industry wishes to use, there has been continuing concern about the potential impact of genetic testing on people's ability to purchase appropriate life and health insurance. So far, only predictive genetic tests for the highly-penetrant single-gene disorder Huntington's Disease have been approved by GAIC, though applications to use predictive tests for some other single-gene disorders are expected in the fairly near future. Select Committee members want to ask insurers why they wish to be able to use genetic test results, and how the risk of creating an uninsurable "genetic underclass" can be avoided. Of the three insurers represented at the meeting (Norwich Union, Prudential and Co- Operative Insurance), the Co-Operative has decided not to use genetic tests.