A coalition of experts has called on the Australian government to legislate against life insurance discrimination based on genetic testing, saying current industry regulations fail to protect customers.
The life insurance industry introduced in 2019 a self-regulated moratorium limiting the use of predictive genetic tests when assessing insurance applications, according to a report by The Medical Republic.
Independent experts from leading universities across Australia have published a stakeholder report on the moratorium’s impact on genetic discrimination over the past three years.
Authors found that multiple life insurance companies failed to comply with the moratorium terms established by the Financial Services Council. These instances include firms asking insurance applicants about the results of their genetic testing.
An overwhelming majority of health professionals (more than 90%), patients (88%), and researchers (86%) polled said they believed legislation was needed to regulate how genetic tests are used in life insurance underwriting.
The moratorium, which only applies to newly issued policies under certain financial limits, is due to expire in June next year.
“Insurance fears can also act as a barrier, by deterring people from having potentially life-saving genetic testing that could match them to tailored interventions and treatments, as well as from participation in genetic research,” the report said.
“Our research shows, overwhelmingly, that Australian stakeholders believe current protections against genetic discrimination are inadequate, and that legislation is required,” said project lead Dr Jane Tiller. “We are calling on the government to legislate to protect consumers from genetic discrimination and remove the barrier to genetic testing and genomic medicine.”
The coalition has recommended the amendment of the Disability Discrimination Act to prevent insurers from using genetic test results in the life insurance underwriting process. It urged government to allocate resources to the Australian Human Rights Commission to enforce the legislation.
Finally, it recommended changes to the regulation of financial services so that insurers have a financial incentive to avoid discrimination.
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