One big concern that many have when considering genetic testing for hereditary conditions like Li-Fraumeni Syndrome is if they will be discriminated against by insurance companies or employers. This short video from Ambry Genetics with Genetic Counselor Carin Espenschiel, MS, CGC talks about this concern and laws that are in place(GINA) to protect individuals.
"Some people are hesitant to undergo genetic testing because they're
concerned about the possibility of genetic discrimination. Genetic
discrimination is discrimination against an individual based on their family
history or a genetic test result. This could come from insurance company or an
employer for example. There's a lot of concern about genetic discrimination.
Several years ago when genetic testing was a lot newer and there weren't as
many laws in place, a federal law was put into place
that's called GINA, the Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act. This
law makes it illegal for health insurance companies and employers to
discriminate against someone based on a genetic test results for their family.
Some states have even more comprehensive laws with GINA, so if you
are considering genetic testing, know that there are laws in place to protect
you from discrimination by health insurance companies and employers if
your results were to come back positive." - Carin Espenschiel, MS, CGC at Ambry Genetics.
