What federal law prohibits insurers from using genetic information for underwriting?

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act prohibits health insurers from using genetic information for underwriting.

Known as GINA, the U.S. law was signed on May 21, 2008. Its health-insurance provisions bar group health plans and insurers from requesting, requiring, or purchasing genetic information for underwriting, including eligibility decisions, premium calculations, and coverage decisions. Genetic information includes genetic-test results and family medical history.

GINA also prohibits discrimination in employment, but its protections are not universal. It generally does not cover life insurance, disability insurance, or long-term-care insurance, where state law and other rules may apply. That limitation is a common source of confusion when the law is described broadly as banning all insurance-related genetic discrimination.

GINA expanded protections that already existed under HIPAA. The Affordable Care Act separately prohibits many forms of health discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, but it is not the law specifically identified with genetic-information underwriting. The Americans with Disabilities Act likewise addresses disability discrimination rather than serving as GINA’s core genetic-insurance statute.