Expert warns about changes to health care caused by genetic advances

Published: 2004-06-09

CHICAGO (CNS) -- Ongoing work in genetic advancements will change not only the way medicine is practiced, but the way health care is delivered and paid for, a health care policy expert told members of the Catholic Health Association June 7. The question is not whether things will change, but how, and how to manage the consequences of decisions made now that will affect generations to come, said Rick Carlson, who is an attorney, a professor in the health services department at Jesuit-run Seattle University and president of the Health Strategies Group. As more and more information becomes available about individual genetic risks, practitioners will be able to tailor the interventions they provide, Carlson said. But that same information will make it impossible for health insurance companies to operate the way they do now, by charging the same premiums for customers with widely different risk factors. "That would be like a car insurance company charging the same for a 16-year-old who just got his license yesterday and a 44-year-old who's never had an accident," he said. "We all know the risks aren't the same." The title of Carlson's talk was "Will We Be Good Ancestors?" He discussed genetic advances including stem-cell research, pre-genetic implants and "designer babies."

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