What insurers cannot ask or use
California's newly signed Safeguarding Genetic Information Act restricts how life and disability insurers use genetic tests. The Department of Insurance says AB 1798 takes effect January 1, 2027 and protects certain test results of asymptomatic people in underwriting decisions. The law concerns coverage decisions and price, not a new cash benefit.
The legislative text generally prohibits insurers from canceling, limiting or denying coverage, changing premiums or making adverse underwriting decisions based on a genetic-characteristic test. It also restricts requesting genetic information, requiring tests and asking whether a person or family member has taken one.
A present diagnosis is a different issue
There are narrow conditions for using certain nondirect-to-consumer results from an authorized medical record to rule out an adverse finding, with specified consent or provision of results. Other exceptions address records needed solely to pay benefits or for therapeutic purposes. These conditions prevent a simple headline from describing every use of every medical record.
The text preserves insurers' ability to consider a present disease or disorder, including a medical diagnosis based on testing. It therefore does not promise the same premium or acceptance to everyone with a diagnosis. Applicants should distinguish a predictive genetic result from an existing medical condition and keep the application and insurer explanation if a decision seems inconsistent with the new protections.