00:00Well, there's been concerns for years that people are being put off getting potentially
00:05life-saving genetic tests because they could be denied insurance coverage or see much higher
00:12premiums.
00:13So, there has been a moratorium preventing insurers from using genetic testing information
00:18for policies up to a certain limit for some years, but researchers like Dr Jane Tiller,
00:23who looks at public health, says that this hasn't been enough to protect consumers.
00:29So, there are genetic tests that can show people are at risk of diseases that are medically
00:33actionable, meaning that you can take steps to prevent disease or catch it and treat it
00:37early.
00:38We've done research where we've been offering that kind of testing to people and the biggest
00:42reason that people decline the testing is because they're worried about the life insurance
00:46implications and it's just a tragedy that people make decisions not to have this kind
00:50of testing if they otherwise want it because they're worried about insurance.
00:54And you have personal experience of this issue, Elise, are you able to tell us about
00:58that?
00:59Yeah, so I was diagnosed with a BRCA1 genetic mutation almost a decade ago, but I specifically
01:03remember going in for that test and being warned that if I did this it could have implications
01:09for me for life insurance.
01:11So, in the case of BRCA1, it increases your risk of breast or ovarian cancer, but there's
01:16lots of preventative measures like mastectomies that you can take that can reduce that risk.
01:21So in my case, I was young and I wasn't really thinking about life insurance, so it didn't
01:24put me off.
01:25But you can understand for someone who's a bit older and might have kids that they really
01:29might be weighing up these really tough decisions and researchers say that they have seen people
01:34who are put off genetic testing for exactly these reasons.
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