Prohibits insurance companies from discriminating based on genetic predisposition including refusing to issue or renew, charging any increased rate, or restricting any length of coverage; prohibits insurers from requiring genetic testing.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3229A
SPONSOR: Dinowitz TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the insurance law, in relation to prohibiting insurance
companies from discriminating based on genetic predisposition; and to
repeal certain provisions of such law relating thereto
PURPOSE:
This bill will protect individuals from being discriminated against due
to a genetic predisposition.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one sets the name of the bill, which shall be known and may be
cited as "the Dennis Crawley genetic protection act of New York".
Section two of the bill repeals § 2615 of the insurance law and adds a
new § 2615 relating to discrimination based on genetic predisposition.
Subdivision (a) prohibits life, accident, health, disability, long term
care, or medical indemnity insurers from conditioning insurance rates,
renewals, or any other coverage on the agreement of an individual to
undergo. genetic testing. This subdivision also precludes insurers from
requiring or soliciting genetic information, using genetic testing
results, or consider a person's decisions or actions related to genetic
testing for insurance purposes.
Subdivision (b) prohibits life, accident, health, disability, long term
care, or medical indemnity insurers from refusing to issue, renew,
cancel, or alter the terms or conditions of coverage of a policy based
on a genetic predisposition of an individual or a member of their fami-
ly.
Subdivision (c) states that nothing in this section shall be construed
to prevent an insurer from accessing an individual's medical records if
otherwise provided by law. This subdivision also provides that this
section does not prohibit insurers from consideration a medical diagno-
sis, including an individual's medical records, even if a diagnosis was
made based on the results of a genetic test.
Subdivision (d) states "genetic testing" and "genetic predisposition"
shall have the same meaning as in section seventy-nine-1 of the civil
rights law.
Section three of the bill provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Due to the recent rise in direct-to-consumer genetic testing such as
"23andMe" and "Ancestry", there is also recent interest in the use of
genetic testing results in life insurance practices. Genetic information
helps you know and understand health conditions that run in your family,
as well as your risk for developing certain health conditions or having
a child with certain conditions. This information can help you make
healthy lifestyle choices and important life and medical decisions. It
also helps your doctor in providing you the best care possible.
The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) is a feder-
al law that protects individuals from genetic discrimination in health
insurance and employment. Genetic discrimination is the misuse of genet-
ic information. Though GINA prevents against genetic discrimination in
health insurance and employment instances, there are no such protections
when it comes to life insurance. Life insurance agencies can deny indi-
viduals who carry certain genes and leave them without life insurance
policies. Many who would like to have genetic testing done are afraid to
do so due to the chances of losing their coverage. Consumers should not
be hindered in their ability to better understand their ancestry and
genetic composition at the expense of being able to financially protect
themselves and their loved ones in the event of their death.
A study by the Cornell Personalized Medicine Collaborative shows that we
can only estimate the percent of a disease or trait that is due to
genetic factors (heritability) and the percent of a disease or trait
that is due to non-genetic factors, like lifestyle and environment.
Only 21% of the risk for melanoma is believed to be due to genetic
factors and 79% is believed to be due to non-genetic factors such as sun
exposure. Additionally, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, if
someone with Cystic Fibrosis has a child, the chances are 50% (1 in 2)
the child will be a carrier but will not have CF and 50% (1 in 2) the
child will have CF. A study done by the Institute of Statistics and
Decision Sciences from Duke University found that 85% of female breast
cancer carriers will get breast cancer, and 65% of women who are ovarian
cancer carriers will get ovarian cancer, by the age of 70 years. This
means that there is still a chance that women who are carriers of either
breast cancer or ovarian cancer will not develop the disease. The
National Cancer Institute stated that even when people have one copy of
a dominant cancer-predisposing mutation, two copies of a recessive muta-
tion, or, for males, one copy of an X-linked recessive mutation, they
may not develop cancer. Some mutations are "incompletely penetrant,"
which means that only some people will show the effects of these muta-
tions. Mutations can also "vary in their expressivity," which means that
the severity of the symptoms may vary from person to person.
Therefore, not everyone who is a carrier of a disease will develop the
disease. It is unjust to strip New Yorkers of their right to life insur-
ance based only on the fact that they have a genetic predisposition to a
certain disease, with no guarantee that the individual will develop the
disease of the gene they carry. Life insurance companies should not
cancel, refuse to issue or renew, charge' an increased rate, restrict
any length of coverage or in any way practice discrimination against a
person unless reliable information relating to the insured's mortality
or morbidity, based on sound and actuarial principles or actual, reason-
ably anticipated claim experience is found.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24: A.2083-A - Insurance / S.5415-A - Insurance
2022: A.9837 - Insurance
2018: A.10229 - Insurance
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the State.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
