Genomics and Discrimination in New Zealand Health and Life Insurance

TL;DR

Genomics improves healthcare by enabling early disease detection and personalized treatment, but its use raises concerns about discrimination in health and life insurance in New Zealand.

Contribution

The paper clarifies the distinction between genetic and genomic testing and highlights the implications for future healthcare and insurance practices.

Findings

Genomic testing allows for more comprehensive analysis compared to single-gene genetic testing.

The shift from genetic to genomic testing is expected to drive innovation in medical science.

There are concerns about how genomic data might be used in health and life insurance contexts.

Abstract

The use of genomics offers substantial benefits to society by revolutionising approaches to healthcare and personalised medicine. It enables early detection of genetic predispositions to various diseases, allowing for proactive and tailored treatment plans, access to clinical trials, and improved health outcomes. Additionally, genomic testing plays an important role in focusing research activity by advancing our understanding and knowledge of molecular contributions to diseases and driving innovation in medical science. ‘Genetic testing' is sometimes used interchangeably with ‘genomic testing' but they have different meanings. Genetic testing examines the functioning and composition of single genes. Genomic testing can be defined as a more complex test that analyses or provides interpretation of information about a single gene or genes, RNA, or chromosomes, with the addition of other types of molecular testing. The use of the term ‘genomic testing' is future proofing our use of this type of information, as we are moving from a single gene test (genetic testing) towards more complex and nuanced methods (genomic testing).