2020 PPP magazine

Page 14 2020 Paint the Paper Pink Lincoln Daily News October 2020 or if they find it early, when it’s likely to be smaller and might be easier to treat. But the tests can have downsides as well, such as the time and expense involved, as well as possible risks from the tests themselves. These extra tests can also lead to more stress and anxiety. Cost: Genetic testing can be expensive. Some tests cost more than others, and the final bill can be thousands of dollars. Be sure you have an idea of how much it will cost you before you have testing done. Insurance questions: If you have health insurance, you’ll need to decide if you’re going to ask your insurance company to help pay for testing. For the most part, state and federal laws do not require insurance companies to pay for predictive testing, so not all of them cover or help pay for the tests. Federal health care laws say that genetic testing should be covered for some women found to be at higher risk for breast and/ or ovarian cancer. The amount of coverage depends on your health plan, so you have to contact them to find out what’s covered. Privacy: Some Americans fear that employers and insurance companies might find out about a genetic mutation and use it against them. Discrimination and employment decisions based on genetic information are barred at the national level for most employers. Even so, some people choose to pay for genetic testing themselves in order to keep the results as private as possible. Employers should not request genetic testing for inherited genetic mutations. They are only allowed to ask for a worker to have genetic testing if there is a possibility of exposure to potentially toxic chemicals and substances in the workplace, which may lead to a different kind of gene mutation. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 is a federal law that prohibits the use of genetic information in workplace CONTINUE