Huntington’s Disease is a progressive, degenerative neurologic disorder that results in abnormal movements, cognitive impairment and the progressive loss of functionality.
“If an applicant has or had a parent with Huntington’s Disease, the risk of that individual developing the disease is 50 percent,” Dinstel said. “The product is not priced for any specific individual to have a 50 percent chance of requiring covered services. The risk exceeds the product pricing and cannot be assumed.”
Long-term-care insurance is typically regulated on a state-by-state basis, and policies are underwritten on a case by case basis.
“This can seem cruel, but in the insurance marketplace it has the effect of keeping the cost of policies for healthier people lower than it would be otherwise,” said Martin Bienstock, an attorney with Weisbrod Matteis & Copley.
While the Affordable Care Act prohibits life insurers from using pre-existing conditions as a basis for setting rates, the rule does not apply to long-term care insurance and there are no privacy laws that prevent insurers from inquiring.
“The use of parental history is fairly common in the life insurance context and I'm not aware of any state that bars insurers from underwriting long-term care based on family history,” Bienstock said.
MedAmerica is a long-term-care insurer that doesn’t yet take into consideration family history.
“We do not inquire as to the applicant's parent or grandparent's medical history nor do we inquire about genetics,” said Tricia Burnett, MedAmerica’s director of marketing and communications.
But Rudnick, the long-term care insurance agent, believes it’s only a matter of time before other insurers follow in Genworth’s footsteps.
Questions asked include the age of parents, whether they are alive and when they died, as well as whether either was diagnosed with any kind of cognitive impairment, coronary disease or diabetes.