Insurance companies may well need to discriminate on the basis of genetic testing. Whether this discrimination takes the form of higher premiums or outright refusal of coverage doesn't really matter, but the right of the company to make such discrimination should be considered.
Why?
Because the people they are insuring may have access to the same genetic testing information. This information may be direct, through the same sort of genetic testing, or indirect, through family history of ailments or such.
Consider life insurance: If anyone with a terminal illness could go and buy a million dollars in term life insurance, the life insurance companies would go bankrupt. Hence, most life insurance policies require some sort of health review to make sure you don't have some sort of known terminal illness.
It's a matter of having a level playing field. Insurance companies should be able to have as much medical information about you as you do. They need to be able to determine the risk of insuring you as well as you are able to determine the risk yourself.
Something to consider before complaining about evil privacy-invading mega-corporations.
there will be much larger capacities available once they get these to the fabrication facilities. However, the articles does not mention cost, so how exactly are we supposed to know if these aren't going to cost $1.50/MB like flash does? And how about making these chips in modules that can be relocated easily? For example, say your MRAM in your old computer will work in your new one? There's got to be a way to have them packaged as little clip-on chips that can be clipped onto a board like wireless PC cards can be clipped into a PCI board... It would save costs big-time. I have plenty of old 72-bit RAM lying around that could be used in newer computers...
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Insurance companies may well need to discriminate on the basis of genetic testing. Whether this discrimination takes the form of higher premiums or outright refusal of coverage doesn't really matter, but the right of the company to make such discrimination should be considered. Why? Because the people they are insuring may have access to the same genetic testing information. This information may be direct, through the same sort of genetic testing, or indirect, through family history of ailments or such. Consider life insurance: If anyone with a terminal illness could go and buy a million dollars in term life insurance, the life insurance companies would go bankrupt. Hence, most life insurance policies require some sort of health review to make sure you don't have some sort of known terminal illness. It's a matter of having a level playing field. Insurance companies should be able to have as much medical information about you as you do. They need to be able to determine the risk of insuring you as well as you are able to determine the risk yourself. Something to consider before complaining about evil privacy-invading mega-corporations.
there will be much larger capacities available once they get these to the fabrication facilities. However, the articles does not mention cost, so how exactly are we supposed to know if these aren't going to cost $1.50/MB like flash does? And how about making these chips in modules that can be relocated easily? For example, say your MRAM in your old computer will work in your new one? There's got to be a way to have them packaged as little clip-on chips that can be clipped onto a board like wireless PC cards can be clipped into a PCI board... It would save costs big-time. I have plenty of old 72-bit RAM lying around that could be used in newer computers...