Commercial Financing - Small Business Truth in Lending Act
Summary
HB1007, the Genetic Testing Protection Act, limits how insurers may use genetic information in underwriting life insurance, long-term care insurance, and disability insurance. It prohibits carriers from denying, limiting, canceling, refusing to renew, or otherwise altering coverage, rates, or terms based on whether an applicant or policyholder has taken a genetic test, requested genetic services, or has genetic information, unless the insurer can show an actuarially sound relationship between the information and the insurance risk it assumes. The bill also bars insurers from requiring genetic testing or full genome sequencing as a condition of eligibility or coverage.
The bill further restricts access to sensitive medical information by requiring signed written consent before a life or disability insurer may access an individual’s genetic data, while still allowing insurers to review medical records and consider medical diagnoses contained in those records, even if the diagnosis was based on genetic testing. The law defines key terms such as genetic information, genetic test, and genetic services, and authorizes the Insurance Commissioner to enforce violations through existing insurance enforcement powers. The act takes effect October 1, 2025.
Impact
The bill adds a new section to Maryland’s Insurance Article, creating statutory protections against genetic discrimination in life, long-term care, and disability insurance. It does not broadly regulate health insurance, but it does create new limits on underwriting practices for the covered lines and establishes a consent requirement for access to sensitive medical information. Insurers may still use medical diagnoses and may justify certain underwriting decisions with actuarially sound principles or actual/reasonably anticipated experience, but they cannot use genetic testing itself as a basis for adverse action in the ways prohibited by the statute.
Sentiment
The voting history shows strong bipartisan support and no recorded opposition in the later chamber votes, with the bill passing 136-2 in the House and then 43-0 and 47-0 in subsequent votes. That pattern suggests broad agreement that consumers should be protected from genetic discrimination in insurance. The absence of committee transcript material limits insight into floor debate, but the recorded votes indicate the measure was generally well received.
Contention
The main policy tension in the bill is between consumer privacy and anti-discrimination protections on one hand, and insurers’ underwriting discretion on the other. Supporters appear to favor preventing insurers from using genetic testing or genetic data to penalize applicants, while the statute preserves insurers’ ability to review medical records and rely on diagnoses and actuarial evidence. The most notable point of contention is the scope of what counts as permissible medical information versus prohibited genetic information, especially where a diagnosis in a medical record may have been informed by genetic testing.