UK insurers postpone using predictive genetic testing until 2011
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《英国医生杂志》
Insurance companies in the United Kingdom have agreed to postpone using information from genetic tests that predicts risk of disease when they set insurance premiums. The postponement, announced by the Department of Health, will last until after 2011.
The health secretary, John Reid, announced that the government had negotiated an agreement with the Association of British Insurers, the trade organisation for insurance companies in the United Kingdom, to extend the current voluntary restrictions on the use of predictive genetic test results by insurers by five years, to November 2011.
The agreement is part of a new framework, the Concordat and Moratorium on Genetics and Insurance, agreed between the association and the government with the aim of ensuring that insurers' use of genetic information is "transparent, fair, and subject to independent oversight."
The framework states that no one will have to disclose the result of a predictive genetic test unless it is first approved by the government's Genetics and Insurance Committee and if the insurance is for more than ￡500 000 ($960 000; 715 000) for life insurance or ￡300 000 for critical illness and income protection insurance. More than 97% of insurance policies are for less than these amounts.
Only a small number of predictive genetic tests are currently potentially of interest to insurers. These include tests for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, associated with inherited breast and ovarian cancer, and the HD gene, which is implicated in Huntington's disease.
The only predictive genetic test currently approved by the Genetics and Insurance Committee for insurance purposes is the test for Huntington's disease for life insurance.
Figures from the NHS show that 500-600 predictive genetic tests are done each year for Huntington's disease, and 40-50% of these are positive. A total of 4635 tests for BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes were done in 2004. About 1000 of these were predictive genetic tests on women with a family history of genetic breast or ovarian cancer, and 45-50% were positive.
Antonia Bunnin, director of policy and campaigns with the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said, "Our research shows that nearly a third of these women would not take the genetic test if insurance companies were able to access this data, potentially putting their health at risk. Choosing to take a genetic test is a difficult enough decision to make without the added fear that insurance companies may use this information against them."
Mr Reid agreed: "Choosing to have a predictive genetic test can be life saving, and nobody should be put off having such a test because of fears it will be used against them by insurers."
The new framework also states that genetic tests taken as part of a research study do not have to be disclosed to insurers. This removes a potential obstacle to patient recruitment in genetics research.(Susan Mayor)
The health secretary, John Reid, announced that the government had negotiated an agreement with the Association of British Insurers, the trade organisation for insurance companies in the United Kingdom, to extend the current voluntary restrictions on the use of predictive genetic test results by insurers by five years, to November 2011.
The agreement is part of a new framework, the Concordat and Moratorium on Genetics and Insurance, agreed between the association and the government with the aim of ensuring that insurers' use of genetic information is "transparent, fair, and subject to independent oversight."
The framework states that no one will have to disclose the result of a predictive genetic test unless it is first approved by the government's Genetics and Insurance Committee and if the insurance is for more than ￡500 000 ($960 000; 715 000) for life insurance or ￡300 000 for critical illness and income protection insurance. More than 97% of insurance policies are for less than these amounts.
Only a small number of predictive genetic tests are currently potentially of interest to insurers. These include tests for the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, associated with inherited breast and ovarian cancer, and the HD gene, which is implicated in Huntington's disease.
The only predictive genetic test currently approved by the Genetics and Insurance Committee for insurance purposes is the test for Huntington's disease for life insurance.
Figures from the NHS show that 500-600 predictive genetic tests are done each year for Huntington's disease, and 40-50% of these are positive. A total of 4635 tests for BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes were done in 2004. About 1000 of these were predictive genetic tests on women with a family history of genetic breast or ovarian cancer, and 45-50% were positive.
Antonia Bunnin, director of policy and campaigns with the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said, "Our research shows that nearly a third of these women would not take the genetic test if insurance companies were able to access this data, potentially putting their health at risk. Choosing to take a genetic test is a difficult enough decision to make without the added fear that insurance companies may use this information against them."
Mr Reid agreed: "Choosing to have a predictive genetic test can be life saving, and nobody should be put off having such a test because of fears it will be used against them by insurers."
The new framework also states that genetic tests taken as part of a research study do not have to be disclosed to insurers. This removes a potential obstacle to patient recruitment in genetics research.(Susan Mayor)