Orlando Sentinel (FL) January 17, 2020
Incoming
House Speaker Chris Sprowls had little trouble Thursday convincing members of a
House health-care panel to approve legislation that would prohibit
life-insurance, long-term care insurance and disability-insurance companies
from using customers’ genetic information in changing, denying or canceling
policies.
Florida
would become the first state to have such a law if Sprowls’ proposal is
ultimately passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Members
of the House Health & Human Services Committee passed Sprowls’ bill (HB
1189) without any debate, and committee Chairman Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero,
praised Sprowls for introducing the bill.
“I
think our privacy is important. And I think it’s equally important to be a
visionary, to look forward and I 'm happy that Florida is going to be the state
that leads the way on this issue,” Rodrigues said.
Insurance
industry lobbyists, who opposed the measure, sat quietly, agreeing to waive
their speaking time.
Curt
Leonard, regional vice president for state relations for the American Council
of Life Insurers, said his association had expressed concerns on the issue for
the past two years.
“We’ve
expressed our concerns with Speaker Sprowls and other interested parties on
this issue going back to 2018. So there’s no point in repeating the same things
over and over again, in the interest of the committee's time,” Leonard said.
“That being said, we do share the speaker-designate’s (Sprowls’) concerns about
privacy. I think it's a concern for everybody.”
The
bill will have to clear the Commerce Committee before it would be ready to go
to the full House. Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, is slated to become speaker after
the November elections.
In
addition to preventing insurers from using the information in making policy
decisions, Sprowls’ bill also would block the companies from requiring or
soliciting genetic information from applicants.
Sprowls
said insurance companies have for years been able to sell policies without
having access to the genetic data.
Insurance
carriers “have been successful without access to genetic information. They have
been able to provide affordable coverage to consumers without genetic information.
Insurance is about spreading risk, not guaranteeing the outcomes or rewards to
the (carriers). And affordable life, disability, and health insurance should
not be available simply to the genetic elite,” Sprowls said.
While
Sprowls’ influence looms large in the House, he must convince the Florida
Senate to go along. For that, Sprowls said he will look to Sen. Kelli Stargel,
R-Lakeland, to spearhead the issue.
Senate
President Bill Galvano, though, told The News Service of Florida that he
supports a potential compromise on the issue.
Leonard
said a compromise would authorize consumers to “use their private information
any way they want to. And that might include them wanting to share their
genetic science or genetic testing information,” he said. “So we don’t like the
idea that consumers will be handcuffed in how they use that information.”
(c)2020
The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.)
Visit
The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.) at www.OrlandoSentinel.com
Distributed
by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
No comments:
Post a Comment