The social response to genetic conditions: beware of the antidiscrimination law.
Today's widespread political support for the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007 rests on the assumption that serious inequities can be eliminated if employers are forbidden from using people's genetic information when making employment decisions. However, this laudable objective runs into serious weaknesses in implementation. Forcing employers to bear the cost of achieving parity between genetically high-risk and low-risk workers will create labor-market distortions that will inevitably shrink insurance coverage for vulnerable populations with genetic abnormalities along with everyone else. A better approach would be to create a politically transparent system of government-provided subsidies.
Epstein
Richard A
RA
University of Chicago, Illinois, USA. repstein@uchicago.edu
D022126:Access to Information / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003219:Confidentiality / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D004651:Employment / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D030661:Genetic Privacy / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005820:Genetic Testing / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D019458:Insurance Coverage; D011287:Prejudice; D014481:United States; D035862:Vulnerable Populations / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*