Thinking about life insurance through a genetic lens

Abstract

Genetic research is booming. The last decade has seen the discovery of thousands of genetic variants that confer greater risk for various common diseases, such as cancer and heart disease. While this has been a breakthrough for medical research, what implications does it pose for life insurance? The ability for individuals to learn more about their long-term health based on a genetic test raises the prospect of greater anti-selection risks. To help life insurers navigate this new landscape, here we summarise the latest in genetics research as it relates to predicting individual disease risk and analyse the potential impact of genetic testing on the industry. We show that genetic risk predic..