§ 27-20-39.1 - Genetic information. - Rhode Island Statutes

SECTION 27-20-39.1

   § 27-20-39.1  Genetic information. –(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 medical coverage that includes coverage for physician services in aphysician's office, and every policy which provides major medical or similarcomprehensive-type coverage excluding disability income, long term care andinsurance supplemental policies which only provide coverage for specifieddiseases or other supplemental policies, shall:

   (1) Use genetic information or request for geneticinformation or the results of genetic information or other genetic informationto reject, deny, limit, cancel, refuse to renew, increase the rates of, affectthe terms or conditions of, or affect a group or an individual's healthinsurance policy, contract, or plan;

   (2) Request or require genetic information for the purpose ofdetermining whether or not to issue or renew a group or individual's healthbenefits coverage, to set reimbursement/co-pay levels or determine coveredbenefits and services;

   (3) Release the results of genetic information without theprior written authorization of the individual from whom the information wasobtained, except in a format by which individual identifiers are removed,encrypted, or encoded so that the identity of the individual is not disclosed.A recipient of information pursuant to this section may use or disclose theinformation solely to carry out the purpose for which the information wasdisclosed. Authorization shall be required for each redisclosure. An exceptionshall exist for participation in research settings governed by the federalpolicy for the protection of human research subjects (also known as "The CommonRule");

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

   (c) For the purposes of this section, "genetic information"is information about genes, gene product, or inherited characteristics that mayderive from the individual or a family member.