Insurance sector extends genetic code

A voluntary code of practice on the use of genetic test results by the insurance industry is to be extended until the end of 2006.

The Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) agreed earlier this week to renew its code on genetic testing for a further 12 months.

The code, which prevents insurers from requiring life assurance applicants to undergo genetic tests and limits the circumstances in which consumers are obliged to disclose the results of prior genetic tests, had been due to expire at the end of 2005.

However, regulations contained in the Disability Bill will eventually supersede the IIF's voluntary agreement and introduce a statutory ban on the use of genetic test results by insurance companies, lending institutions and employers.

The insurance industry has registered its opposition to the ban.

Jennifer Hoban, the IIF's life assurance manager, said it believed the restrictions in place under the voluntary code of practice were sufficient and that insurers needed some protection, especially on high-value policies.

"If you have the results of genetic tests and you are not obliged to disclose them, you have more information about your health than the insurer. The concern would be that people would look for higher amounts of cover or look for cover that they would otherwise not have taken out," Ms Hoban said.

Under the present code, insurers are allowed to seek the results of any prior genetic tests taken by a person if the value of the life assurance policy exceeds €381,000. In the case of critical illness policies and permanent health insurance (income protection), insurers can seek the results of any genetic tests taken, regardless of the policy value.

The tests may help insurance companies identify people who are susceptible to certain medical conditions and then charge them higher premiums or refuse cover. But their use for this purpose has led to fears that further scientific advances could create a "genetic underclass" of healthy people who are deemed uninsurable and discriminated against in employment because of their future vulnerability to inherited diseases.

Only tests approved by the Genetics and Insurance Committee (GAIC) in the UK may be used in the underwriting process.

The only genetic test that has been approved for use by the GAIC is for the brain disorder Huntington's disease.

Studies by cancer charities in the UK suggest that women with a family history of breast cancer who want to check if they carry the genes would be put off doing so if they were obliged to disclose the results to insurers.

Insurers can ask life assurance applicants if there is a family history of cancer or kidney disease at a young age and whether there is any history of circulatory diseases. Failure to disclose the information at the proposal stage can lead to claims being rejected.

But the IIF is concerned by a provision under the Disability Bill that allows the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to draft regulations that could restrict how insurers seek information relating to family medical history.

"This is a more important underwriting tool than genetic test results," said Ms Hoban.

Without full access to the information, the cost of life assurance would increase, while critical illness cover "would have difficulty surviving in its current format".