Consumer Genetic Testing Available In Australia 88
Megaport writes "After the banning of direct-to-consumer genetic testing in Australia last July, new rules were imposed to require a physician to be involved in the process. Now a new Australian start-up, Lumigenix, has launched a genome decoding service for Australian (and global) consumers that meets the new regulatory requirements. Their products include genetic testing for health and ancestry information. The Australian government is planning to revisit the issue later this year and further regulation is anticipated in response to the emergence of direct-to-consumer genetic services."
Re:Employers (Score:4, Interesting)
The US has a law on the subject, forbidding insurers to take your genetic information into account:
http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/gina.cfm [eeoc.gov]
Re:Employers (Score:5, Interesting)
Oh, we from $big_insurance have no problem with that, the law forbids us to require a gene test before insuring you. That's certainly no problem for us and we will comply with that law fully. We will insure you any time even without a genetic test for a fee of $fee_suitable_for_ultra_high_risk_people. Of course, if you voluntarily provide a gene test, we might offer discounts.
We certainly and wholeheartedly welcome this law. If we'd be allowed to require such a test, we might have to pay for it instead of you.
Same way around for employing. We can't require a gene test from you, but without we only employ you at minimum wage. For more, bring a gene test result (all voluntary, of course). Also, be prepared to be the first person fired if you don't, after all, everyone else did (since they didn't want to work for minimum pennies), so you must have some sort of genetic disorder and we're probably better off without you.
Seriously, though. Money talks, and often it talks its way out of legal corners. If a company wants to do something it is not allowed, they sure find a way to make it "interesting" to comply with their wishes.
Re:How is the false paternity rate in Austrailia? (Score:4, Interesting)
I assure you there is nothing pure about our genes. In fact we are arguably the worlds experts at assimilation. The city of Bendigo in Victoria used to be a third Chinese. It still is but you won't see many Chinese faces there.
Re:Employers (Score:2, Interesting)
Yes, that's exactly how the universal health care works. A certain percentage of your income above a certain value, capped at some other value.
The direct levy is under 2%. You pay a higher levy if you are above a certain threshold and do not also have private health care (so it can be more expensive *not* to have basic private care).
Also, private health care is community rated, so you don't pay more or get rejected if you are in poor health or have pre-existing conditions (there may be waiting periods before claiming -- e.g. 18 months before a hip replacement). Recently they have also made it cheaper for life if you start out with private health insurance before age 30.
And why would my employer need to be involved?
As an Australian it still amazes me why the US has a health care system set up like those in 3rd world countries.