health

Genetic testing moves into world of employee health

4 Comments
By TOM MURPHY

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Burning Bush, if employers started firing people for having diseases, the lawsuits stemming from that would be insane and easily winnable by employees. Besides, companies don't need genetic testing to determine if they want to fire someone for health reasons. Often when employees sign up for health insurance they have to disclose certain risk factors anyway. If they wanted to they could just look at those risk factors or who uses too much insurance or sick days and fire them. And they would rightfully get sued.

I think this is just another tool to help people live healthier lives. I really don't think companies can legally force employees to participate, it's just an optional bonus. Like where I work, we use Aetna and they have a smoking cessation program. No one has to participate, but if you do I think you get a slight decrease in insurance costs. It's an incentive, but not a requirement.

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Private insurers in the US have the motivation to eliminate the sickest and riskiest from their pools. This in turn is a driver for patient data collection which is retained indefinitely to be used against you like a bad tweet.

If you don't think your personal data can be used against you, try applying for private insurance with a history of cancer, heart disease, or at the age of 80.

A single payer system is a solution but is opposed by insurers who by definition would be eliminated.

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Employers and Insurance companies have no business with your Gene Testing. We, government, just need to set up a safety net or a policy to make sure that they do not tap into our private gene data.

I am actually all for this. Gene Testing in cancer treatment is a significant breakthrough. It makes more effective cancer treatment available for us, and it may actually cure cancer. I hope you remember a recent cancer treatment by using virus, based on gene testing, actually shrunk brain tumors -glioma- for 11 patients. Glioma is fatal. These are now in total remission according to Duke University.

Private insurers in the US have the motivation to eliminate the sickest and riskiest from their pools. This in turn is a driver for patient data collection which is retained indefinitely to be used against you like a bad tweet.

That is the reason I fought for Obama Care. . I have been in insurance business more than 5 decades until recently. I know how insurance companies fought hard against Obama care and YOU.They only care for profit.

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