Cribbed from http://www.slashdot.org

"The bill to ban genetic discrimination in employment or insurance coverage is moving forward. Is this the death knell of private insurance?

"I think private health insurance is pretty much incompatible with genetic testing (GT) for disease predisposition, if said testing turns out to be of any use whatsoever.

"The great strength of GT is that it will (as technology improves) take a lot of the uncertainty out of disease prediction. But that uncertainty is what insurance is based on.

"If discrimination is allowed, the person with the bad genes is out of luck because no one would insure them. However, if that isn't allowed, the companies are in trouble. If I know I'm likely to get a certain condition, I'll stock up on 'insurance' for it.

"The only solution I can see is single-payer universal coverage along the lines of the Canadian model, where everyone pays, and no one (insurer or patient) can game the system based on advance knowledge of the outcomes. Any other ideas? This bill has been in the works for a while..."

Here is the NYT's link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/busine......f=slogin

Oh sure, invoke the C-word. This thread is doomed ;-)

John

Canadian!!!!!!!!!! Slowly I turned...step by step...


But...since I cant get insurance anyway, I opt for the healthy aspect and prospect of future generations. Gene Identification will eventually allow for gene manipulation and a potentialy disease free society. Go for it.

The real problem is our fear of helping people due to the inevitability of said people hurting us.

Not universal health care (Which I am not arguing for or against).
Not discrimination (Again)
Not genetic testing (People who test people for the betterment of society as a whole, are suckers)

People are simply too self destructive to ever really have the possibility of any Utopian society. We will have gene testing when there is a military use. We will not have gene testing for health and welfare, unless it is an ancillary effect.

Now that I have spoken, no other words are necessary. Or in the Internet forum vernacular: Nuff said.... I hate Internet vernacular.

Funny...I just read words to that effect in another thread about 30 seconds ago.

I also read them... I was thinking of them as I wrote that.

Weird.

PC's are clearly better