Plain English Breakdown
The official text repeatedly mentions 'unless specified criteria are met' without defining those criteria in the provided summary.
AB-1798: Genetic Testing Rules for Life and Disability Insurance
This law stops life and disability insurers from canceling, limiting, or denying coverage based on genetic tests, while also banning them from asking for or using genetic information in insurance decisions.
What This Bill Does
- Replaces old rules with a ban on canceling, limiting, or denying insurance based on genetic test results unless specified criteria are met.
- Prohibits insurers from requiring, requesting, soliciting, or using genetic information for any insurance purpose.
- Stops insurers from considering whether an applicant chose to take a genetic test when making decisions.
- Requires disclosure forms used by insurers to exclude authorization for sharing records containing genetic characteristics or testing results.
- Bans the use of investigative consumer reports that seek an individual's full genome, direct-to-consumer genetic data, or other genetic information.
Who It Names or Affects
- Life and disability insurance companies
- Insurance agents and support organizations
- People applying for life or disability insurance
Terms To Know
- Genetic characteristic test
- A medical exam that looks at a person's DNA to find specific traits.
- Underwriting decision
- The choice an insurer makes about whether to sell insurance and how much it will cost, including canceling or limiting coverage.
- Direct-to-consumer genetic testing company
- A business that sells DNA tests directly to people without a doctor's order.
Limits and Unknowns
- The bill allows exceptions if specified criteria are met, but the text does not list what those specific criteria are.
- Civil penalties exist for breaking these rules, though the exact amounts or enforcement steps are described only as 'as specified' in this summary.