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Could using Helix make it more difficult for me to get health insurance coverage?

You are not obligated to provide your DNA results to your health insurance provider.

You are not obligated to provide your DNA results to your health insurance provider. 
The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), a U.S. federal law that protects individuals from genetic discrimination in health insurance and employment, protects your genetic information from use by health insurance providers.
GINA makes it against the law for your health insurer to:

  • Collect and look at your genetic information (including family medical history) before you enroll or in connection with your enrollment in a health insurance plan, or restrict your enrollment based on your genetic information
  • Ask or require that you or your family members take a genetic test
  • Adjust your health insurance premiums, contribution amounts or coverage terms based on your genetic information.


If you have received or purchased a genetic test, your health insurance company cannot deny you coverage or raise your premiums. However, GINA does not cover life insurance, disability insurance, or long-term care insurance. To learn more about how you are and are not protected, check out ginahelp.org.