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DNA testing and Equifax
Greetings,
My apologies, but I’m not sure where to post this. I feel that everyone who visits this message board should read this. I am a regular listener of 89.9 WJCT FM which is the local NPR affiliate here in Jacksonville, Florida. Every morning at 9AM, the station broadcasts “Jacksonville Exchange” which is a local news and opinion radio show. Last week, I heard an editorial by Warren Miller on the subject of DNA testing and Equifax that was the scariest thing I’ve ever heard on the radio. While nothing in his opinion is related to IC directly, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to see how IC could be related to it now or in the very near future.
As soon as I got a chance, I wrote Tom Patton who the station manager at WJCT to see if there was a transcript of Mr. Miller’s commentary. As luck would have it, there was.
Hopefully, I’m not breaking any message board rules by posting this, but I feel that this is very important since it involves matters of healthcare. I have not edited or added anything to this email message I received from Mr. Patton. Please feel free to contact the station manager if you’d like to verify anything that you read here.
Sincerely,
Derrick
===============================================
Dear Derrick:
You're in luck. I had not yet deleted the script from Commentator Warren Miller
on this subject. It is pasted in below.
Thank you for listening to Jacksonville Exchange.
Sincerely:
Thomas C. Patton
Station Manager / News Director
89.9 WJCT-FM
Community Supported Public Radio
904.358.6382 (vox)
904.358.6352 (fax)
100 Festival Park Ave.
Jacksonville, FL
32202
Tune In - Find Out
-0-
When you get a blood test for an insurance application, a job application or
almost any reason for which you’ve signed your permission … genetic testing is
probably done on your blood … and the information is submitted to national
information banks that can legally resell the data in your DNA to
anyone who will pay for it. Not only is it perfectly legal … not only have you
already agreed to it … but discriminating against you for life insurance, or
even a job promotion … on genetic grounds … is perfectly legal in 19 states,
including Florida.
What’s scariest is not simply that genetic makeup … that is, how likely you are
to get, say, breast of colon cancer in the future … is not a protected category
from discrimination … unlike race, religion, gender, age or national origin …
but that the information is available to literally anyone who
pays for membership to databanks like Equifax. Right now, some experts say,
almost every Fortune 500 company already buys it.
The driver here is insurance. Insurance companies pay for almost all healthcare
today. When you go visit your doctor, you may think you’ve signed a waiver that
allows the doctor to share the information gathered from testing you with your
insurance provider … but the fine print allows the doctor to
give the information to whomever he or she deems necessary. That allows the
insurance provider to resell it.
Let’s say a woman gets a new health insurance policy, and goes to her doctor for
a physical. DNA testing is done on her blood that shows a 100-percent likelihood
of breast cancer at some point in her future. She decides to get a prophylactic,
radical mastectomy. She checks with her insurance
company to make sure that’s covered. The insurance company doesn’t just say no …
it cancels the policy, on the grounds that predisposal amounts to a pre-existing
condition.
Discrimination because of an existing disease is protected by the Americans with
Disabilities Act … but even though the EOC has said discrimination because of
genetic predisposition to disease is prohibited by ADA, the U.S. Supreme Court
has issued conflicting rulings on cases. The first state law
banning genetic testing for employment, passed in Wisconsin in 1991, was enacted
largely because of testing for the sickle-cell gene … which was discriminatory
to African-Americans. Since then, bans have passed in each of the six largest
state except Florida, bans that differ substantially in
exactly what they cover. To fix that once and for all, in 2000, President
Clinton called for federal law to ban the consideration of genetic information
in employment. Congress debated it that year, but did nothing … urged not to by
insurance lobbyists.
A new Senate, led by physician Bill Frist, might take this up after the
elections. Until then, though, your most personal information … your DNA … may
not be available to you … but credit bureaus and insurance companies already
have it. For Jacksonville Exchange … I'm Warren Miller.
My apologies, but I’m not sure where to post this. I feel that everyone who visits this message board should read this. I am a regular listener of 89.9 WJCT FM which is the local NPR affiliate here in Jacksonville, Florida. Every morning at 9AM, the station broadcasts “Jacksonville Exchange” which is a local news and opinion radio show. Last week, I heard an editorial by Warren Miller on the subject of DNA testing and Equifax that was the scariest thing I’ve ever heard on the radio. While nothing in his opinion is related to IC directly, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to see how IC could be related to it now or in the very near future.
As soon as I got a chance, I wrote Tom Patton who the station manager at WJCT to see if there was a transcript of Mr. Miller’s commentary. As luck would have it, there was.
Hopefully, I’m not breaking any message board rules by posting this, but I feel that this is very important since it involves matters of healthcare. I have not edited or added anything to this email message I received from Mr. Patton. Please feel free to contact the station manager if you’d like to verify anything that you read here.
Sincerely,
Derrick
===============================================
Dear Derrick:
You're in luck. I had not yet deleted the script from Commentator Warren Miller
on this subject. It is pasted in below.
Thank you for listening to Jacksonville Exchange.
Sincerely:
Thomas C. Patton
Station Manager / News Director
89.9 WJCT-FM
Community Supported Public Radio
904.358.6382 (vox)
904.358.6352 (fax)
100 Festival Park Ave.
Jacksonville, FL
32202
Tune In - Find Out
-0-
When you get a blood test for an insurance application, a job application or
almost any reason for which you’ve signed your permission … genetic testing is
probably done on your blood … and the information is submitted to national
information banks that can legally resell the data in your DNA to
anyone who will pay for it. Not only is it perfectly legal … not only have you
already agreed to it … but discriminating against you for life insurance, or
even a job promotion … on genetic grounds … is perfectly legal in 19 states,
including Florida.
What’s scariest is not simply that genetic makeup … that is, how likely you are
to get, say, breast of colon cancer in the future … is not a protected category
from discrimination … unlike race, religion, gender, age or national origin …
but that the information is available to literally anyone who
pays for membership to databanks like Equifax. Right now, some experts say,
almost every Fortune 500 company already buys it.
The driver here is insurance. Insurance companies pay for almost all healthcare
today. When you go visit your doctor, you may think you’ve signed a waiver that
allows the doctor to share the information gathered from testing you with your
insurance provider … but the fine print allows the doctor to
give the information to whomever he or she deems necessary. That allows the
insurance provider to resell it.
Let’s say a woman gets a new health insurance policy, and goes to her doctor for
a physical. DNA testing is done on her blood that shows a 100-percent likelihood
of breast cancer at some point in her future. She decides to get a prophylactic,
radical mastectomy. She checks with her insurance
company to make sure that’s covered. The insurance company doesn’t just say no …
it cancels the policy, on the grounds that predisposal amounts to a pre-existing
condition.
Discrimination because of an existing disease is protected by the Americans with
Disabilities Act … but even though the EOC has said discrimination because of
genetic predisposition to disease is prohibited by ADA, the U.S. Supreme Court
has issued conflicting rulings on cases. The first state law
banning genetic testing for employment, passed in Wisconsin in 1991, was enacted
largely because of testing for the sickle-cell gene … which was discriminatory
to African-Americans. Since then, bans have passed in each of the six largest
state except Florida, bans that differ substantially in
exactly what they cover. To fix that once and for all, in 2000, President
Clinton called for federal law to ban the consideration of genetic information
in employment. Congress debated it that year, but did nothing … urged not to by
insurance lobbyists.
A new Senate, led by physician Bill Frist, might take this up after the
elections. Until then, though, your most personal information … your DNA … may
not be available to you … but credit bureaus and insurance companies already
have it. For Jacksonville Exchange … I'm Warren Miller.
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