“Should genetic test results be used to determine insurance coverage? Debate is on,” by Elizabeth Koh, Miami Herald

“As interest in commercially available genetic testing kits continues to rise, Florida senators are considering a proposal that would ban genetic test results from being used to deny or limit someone’s life, disability or long-term care insurance coverage. But the bill, which narrowly passed its first state Senate committee stop Monday, faces an uphill climb as some lawmakers and insurance lobbyists say the potential ban would hurt the industry’s ability to anticipate and calculate future risk.”

LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform):

The essence of private insurance is that it prices risk. If you bring more risk into the risk pool you pay for it. You pay higher premiums for smoking, careless driving, sky-diving, etc. Social insurance doesn’t price risk so anything goes. The ne’er-do-wells pay the same premiums as we responsible people do. Unsurprisingly, they take advantage of us suckers. Take away the ability of private insurance to calculate risk and to price it actuarially, i.e., to reward responsible behavior and punish risky behavior, and you ruin the only real insurance there is. Social insurance is an oxymoron because it does not price individual risk and invariably becomes a sinkhole of irresponsibility. That’s how Social Security and Medicare have destroyed personal responsibility.