Study Data from National Institutes of Health Provide New Insights into Law and the Biosciences (Taking actuarial fairness seriously: what is required for the ethical use of genetics in insurance?): Legal Issues – Law and the Biosciences

2026 JUN 01 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at NewsRx Policy and Law Daily -- Investigators publish new report on Legal Issues - Law and the Biosciences. According to news reporting originating in Washington, District of Columbia, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Whether life insurers should be able to consider genetic information during underwriting is a long-standing debate often characterized by strong opinions on both sides. Insurers push for full access to applicants’ genetic information, and consumer advocates often call for a ban on insurer use of the information.”

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the National Institutes of Health, “Both sides employ concepts of fairness and discrimination in supporting their position. This article considers the concept of actuarial fairness, where individuals are expected to pay for the risks they bring to an insurance pool. Currently, law and policy adopting this standard most often take a deferential approach, allowing insurers to utilize genetic information with wide latitude. This article takes seriously a middle-ground approach, broadly labeled as actuarial utility.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Building from prior literature examining this issue, this article proposes a framework US policy can adopt to assist in the assessment of the actuarial utility of genetic information with a particular focus on emerging genetic technologies.”

For more information on this research see: Taking actuarial fairness seriously: what is required for the ethical use of genetics in insurance? Journal of Law and the Biosciences, 2026;13(1). Journal of Law and the Biosciences can be contacted at: Oxford Univ Press, Great Clarendon St, Oxford OX2 6DP, England.

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Benjamin E. Berkman, Dept. of Bioethics, National Institutes of Health, Washington, DC, United States. Additional authors for this research include Harisan Nasir, Leila Jamal, Chloe Connor and Anya E. R. Prince.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1093/jlb/lsag017. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

The publisher of the Journal of Law and the Biosciences can be contacted at: Oxford Univ Press, Great Clarendon St, Oxford OX2 6DP, England.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)