Insurance Implications of a Complete Human Genome Map

A collaborative interdisciplinary approach will be employed to address issues of insurance and the HGP: to describe and classify the variety of screening and diagnostic techniques likely to develop; to identify, classify and evaluate the implications for private and public insurance markets; to identify the social and economic incentives and disincentives to application of new technologies; to identify and analyze normative ethical problems that arise out of the implementation of genetic screening tests; to assess public policy issues likely to arise; to evaluate current laws and regulations; and to develop guidelines and policy recommendations. A matrix of 54 different situations will be developed and used to analyze laws and policies. Analytic strategies include: testing analogous case based approaches; surveying a representative sample of the insurance industry; utilizing a panel of industry and legal experts; searching of state and federal data banks and computerized case law services; reviewing legal commentary; and surveying insurance and legal experts and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.