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Genetic Testing and Disability Insurance: An Alternative Opinion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2021

John H. Dodge  and
David J. Christianson
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Extract

The paper by Susan M. Wolf and Jeffrey P. Kahn published in this issue of the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics notes that we are members of the Working Group on Genetic Testing in Disability Insurance and that the members of the Working Group do not necessarily subscribe to its recommendations. Although we agree with some of Wolf and Kahn's recommendations, we do not agree with recommendations 1, 3, 4, and 5 for individual disability insurance and recommendations 1, 2, and 3 for group disability insurance. We use this paper to delineate our areas of disagreement, but we do not discuss areas such as employment law as they are not our areas of expertise.

First, understanding our roles on the Working Group is important. As members, we provided technical expertise on disability insurance. Our input to the Working Group represents our individual opinions.

Type
Special Supplement
Information
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics , Volume 35 , Issue S2 , Summer 2007 , pp. 33 - 35
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics 2007

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References

Wolf, S. M. and Kahn, J. P., with input from the Working Groupon Genetic Testing in Disability Insurance, “Genetic Testing and the Future of Insurance: Ethics, Law & Policy,” Journal of Law, Medicine, & Ethics 35, no. 2, Supplement (2007): 6–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
See Dodge, J. H., “Predictive Medical Information and Underwriting,” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 35, no. 2, Supplement (2007): 36–39, in this issue for a discussion of medical underwriting.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
The exact definition of disability varies depending upon the specific contract. See for sample language.Google Scholar
Some individual disability insurance policies are sold on a guaranteed standard basis to a group of individuals for up to a maximum benefit amount. These policies have risk characteristics that are similar to group disability insurance and are not medically underwritten.Google Scholar
If recommendation 1 for group disability insurance did not apply to the medically underwritten portions of group disability insurance policies, we would agree with it.Google Scholar
See Dodge, , supra note 2, for a discussion of pre-existing condition clauses.Google Scholar
Id.; Christianson, D., “Disability Income Insurance: The Private Market and the Impact of Genetic Testing,” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 35, no. 2, Supplement (2007): 40–46, in this issue; and American Academy of Actuaries, Issue Brief: The Use of Genetic Information in Disability Income and Long-Term Care Insurance (Spring, 2002) for a discussion of adverse selection.CrossRefGoogle Scholar