18% of Americans OK with payers using their DNA to determine policies

The healthcare industry is inundated with data, but patients aren't all that comfortable with health insurers using their personal information to determine policies, according to a recent survey.

LendEDU, an online marketplace for personal finance products, surveyed 1,000 American adults in August for the online poll.

Here are five survey insights:

1. Fifteen percent of respondents believed that insurance companies should be allowed to use big data — such as personal data, internet browsing history, social media usage — to determine risk in a potential insurance policy. Seventy-two percent, however, said this should not be allowed.

2. Forty-nine percent of respondents said they would allow insurers to access their everyday health information if it meant they could possibly qualify for a cheaper policy.

3. Eighteen percent of respondents would be OK with insurance companies having access to their DNA if it meant they could qualify for a cheaper insurance policy.

4. When asked whether they would be OK with an insurance company installing a biometric tracker in their body if it meant they may be able to qualify for a lower-cost insurance policy, 11 percent of respondents said yes, compared with 82 percent of respondents that indicated no.

5. More than half of respondents (55 percent) said payers using private data is equally as threatening as tech companies doing the same.

To access the complete survey, click here.

Copyright © 2024 Becker's Healthcare. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy. Linking and Reprinting Policy.

 

Top 40 articles from the past 6 months