The idea that a new genetic underclass will be created by insurance companies exacting high premiums has been rejected by a new study. Dr Angus MacDonald, an actuarial mathematician from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, has produced mathematical data showing the impact that genetic tests will have on the insurance industry and the insurance products it offers consumers. His research has found that companies are unlikely to demand higher premiums from those who have had a test revealing a predisposition to heart disease, or other such common disorders.
Speaking at the British Association annual science festival in Sheffield, Dr MacDonald said that genetic tests are likely to show only a 10 per cent increase in the chance of dying each year. Premiums usually only rise when the chance of dying is at least 30 per cent above average. Dr MacDonald recognised that certain people - such as those carrying the faulty gene for Huntington's disease or hereditary breast cancer - are already finding it difficult to obtain life insurance. But, he added, such difficulties are unlikely to be experienced by others, even in ten years' time, when genetic tests have become more sophisticated.
Sources and References
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Genetic flaws 'hardly alter life expectancy'
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Gene test 'won't hit premiums'
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