§ 27-18-52 - Genetic testing. - Rhode Island Statutes

SECTION 27-18-52

   § 27-18-52  Genetic testing. – (a) Except as provided in chapter 37.3 of title 5, insurance administrators,health plans and providers shall be prohibited from releasing geneticinformation without prior written authorization of the individual. Writtenauthorization shall be required for each disclosure and include to whom thedisclosure is being made. An exception shall exist for those participating inresearch settings governed by the Federal Policy for the Protection of HumanResearch Subjects (also known as "The Common Rule"). Tests conducted purely forresearch are excluded from the definition, as are tests for somatic (as opposedto heritable) mutations, and testing for forensic purposes.

   (b) No individual or group health insurance contract, plan,or policy delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in this state whichprovides health insurance medical coverage that includes coverage for physicianservices in a physician's office, and every policy which provides major medicalor similar comprehensive-type coverage excluding disability income, long termcare and insurance supplemental policies which only provide coverage forspecified diseases or other supplemental policies, shall:

   (1) Use a genetic test or request for genetic tests or theresults of a genetic test to reject, deny, limit, cancel, refuse to renew,increase the rates of, affect the terms or conditions of, or affect a group oran individual health insurance policy, contract, or plan;

   (2) Request or require a genetic test for the purpose ofdetermining whether or not to issue or renew an individual's health benefitscoverage, to set reimbursement/co-pay levels or determine covered benefits andservices;

   (3) Release the results of a genetic test without the priorwritten authorization of the individual from whom the test was obtained, exceptin a format whereby individual identifiers are removed, encrypted, or encodedso that the identity of the individual is not disclosed. A recipient ofinformation pursuant to this section may use or disclose this informationsolely to carry out the purpose for which the information was disclosed.Authorization shall be required for each redisclosure; an exception shall existfor participating in research settings governed by the Federal Policy for theProtection of Human Research Subjects (also known as "The Common Rule").

   (4) Request or require information as to whether anindividual has ever had a genetic test, or participated in genetic testing ofany kind, whether for clinical or research purposes.

   (c) For the purposes of this section, "genetic testing" isthe analysis of an individual's DNA, RNA, chromosomes, proteins and certainmetabolites in order to detect heritable disease-related genotypes, mutations,phenotypes or karyotypes for clinical purposes. Those purposes includepredicting risk of disease, identifying carriers, establishing prenatal andclinical diagnosis or prognosis. Prenatal, newborn and carrier screening, aswell as testing in high risk families may be included provided there is anapproved release by a parent or guardian. Tests for metabolites are coveredonly when they are undertaken with high probability that an excess ofdeficiency of the metabolite indicates the presence of heritable mutations insingle genes. "Genetic testing" does not mean routine physical measurement, aroutine chemical, blood, or urine analysis or a test for drugs or for HIVinfections.