The DNA privacy law ‘House Bill 1189’, prohibiting life, disability, and long-term insurance companies from using genetic information in providing coverage and deciding premiums was enacted this past July 1st.
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The new law applies to all new and renewed policies after January 21, 2020. Florida governor Ron DeSantis approved the bill on June 30.
It prohibits insurers from denying coverage, limiting, or canceling insurance policies, or even prescribing different premiums based on genetic information from DNA in Florida. Individuals still can donate DNA information from third-party tests to insurance companies.
“Genetic information” stated in the bill includes genes associated with the risk of developing a disease, any variations and mutations, and an individual’s carrier status.
DNA information could be made with a court order for investigations of civil matters like civil disputes, including for those around time-sensitive subjects like paternity or maternity disputes, surrogacy matters, IVF, organ transplantation, medical negligence, unidentified human remains, and identification of abandoned children in criminal cases.
The US currently has a framework prohibiting the use of genetic information for health insurance companies but does not specifically protect insurance outside of health, such as for life, long-term health, and disability income insurance policies.
Individuals may submit to genetic testing voluntarily to know about their own genetic history. Third parties may seek to obtain this same information for other purposes, such as for use in insurance markets or specific legal matters in the legal sector. Insurers in turn could then use DNA information to exclude high-risk individuals from established risk-pools, charging a higher rate for that person who may or may not develop an illness.
Future DNA advancements in such technologies could also be used to better determine the evidence and advancement of a court trial. The bill leads to more advancements of a DNA Regulatory Board, national and regional data banks, and the framework for DNA lab accreditations.
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Reference: https://www.medianama.com/2020/07/223-florida-enacts-dna-privacy-law/
