Law note · Missouri
Genetic information, insurer and employer restrictions, confidentiality duty
Within the insurance code, Missouri separately restricts the use and disclosure of genetic information, defined as the results of a genetic test (Sec. 375.1300).
An insurer may not, in connection with the offer, sale, or renewal of a health plan, require or request a person or their blood relative to provide genetic information or take a genetic test, or consider genetic information or a genetic test without the person's approval, in determining eligibility, premiums, or coverage (Sec. 375.1303, effective since August 28, 1998); a violation is enforced as an unfair trade practice.
An employer may not use an employee's or job applicant's genetic information or genetic test results to discriminate against them or restrict a right or benefit otherwise due them, except for underwriting individual or group life, disability income, or long-term care insurance, action required by law, action taken with written permission, or use of information directly related to job responsibilities (Sec. 375.1306).
Any person who, in the ordinary course of business, a profession, or rendering a service, creates, stores, receives, or furnishes genetic information must hold it as a confidential medical record and may not disclose it without the individual's or their authorized representative's written authorization, except for de-identified statistical data, federally regulated health research, release under legal or regulatory process, or body identification (Sec. 375.1309).
Sections 375.1306 and 375.1309 were both added by the original 1998 enactment and substantially amended by Laws 2007, S.B. 66, effective August 28, 2007. Neither the employer restriction nor the confidentiality duty is limited to private employers or private handlers of genetic information on its face.
Enforcement of Secs. 375.1303, 375.1306, and 375.1309 runs to the Director of the Department of Commerce and Insurance, who may issue administrative orders or bring a civil action for an injunction and other relief under Mo. Rev. Stat. Secs. 374.046 and 374.048; none of these sections creates a private right of action.
What it asks of an app
- Do not require or request an individual's or their blood relative's genetic information or a genetic test, or consider genetic information or a genetic test result without the individual's approval, when making a health-plan eligibility, premium, coverage, or renewal decision.
- Do not use an employee's or job applicant's genetic information or genetic test results to discriminate against them or restrict a right or benefit otherwise due them, unless a statutory exception applies.
- Hold any genetic information you create, store, receive, or furnish in the ordinary course of business, a profession, or a service as a confidential medical record, and do not disclose it without the individual's written authorization.
When LexLint raises it
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Primary source: official Missouri statute text, Revised Statutes of Missouri sections 375.1300, 375.1303, 375.1306, and 375.1309