Tuesday, August 06, 2019

MVNHS© Digs Deeper (& The IRS Joins the Fray)

Into its citizens' DNA, that is. Via email from FoIB Holly R:

"Jan Meisels Allen, Chairperson of the IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee, reports that the UK National Health Service will offer five million Britons free DNA tests to help predict their risk of major diseases. Individuals will be able to volunteer to receive personalized reports based on the DNA analysis."

Oh, goody.

And who, exactly, will be privy to the results?

Well, let's look under the hood bonnet for a clue:

"The project is a £79 million government investment with an additional £160 million from charities and businesses to support research on early diagnosis, prevention and disease treatment." [emphasis added]

Gee, perhaps there's a clue there, Sherlock ans.

To be sure, there's this disclaimer:

"Ministers said the anonymised data"

Sure, if you say so. Still, as they say, "if you're not the customer, you're the product."

Britain's Much Vaunted National Health Service© continues to cover itself in glory.

Additional details here.

BONUS: In a coincidental(?) development, Holly also alerts us to breaking news on this side of the pond:

"The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has ruled the health portion of 23andMe’s ancestry and genetics test is tax deductible because it constitutes medical care. Of the $199 cost, up to $117.74 of the total cost is deductible."

Which means that they're also HSA- and FSA-eligible. Nice.

Interestingly, it appears that this applies only to that company:

"Of the dozens of genetic testing companies operating in the US, the Food and Drug Administration has given only 23andMe approval to inform customers directly (rather than through a health care provider)" of various markers it finds.

Hunh.
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