Rhode Island General Laws Title 27. Insurance § 27-18-52. Genetic testing

(a) Except as provided in chapter 37.3 of title 5, insurance administrators, health plans and providers shall be prohibited from releasing genetic information without prior written authorization of the individual. Written authorization shall be required for each disclosure and include to whom the disclosure is being made. An exception shall exist for those participating in research settings governed by the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Research Subjects (also known as “The Common Rule”). Tests conducted purely for research are excluded from the definition, as are tests for somatic (as opposed to heritable) mutations, and testing for forensic purposes.

(b) No individual or group health insurance contract, plan, or policy delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed in this state which provides health insurance medical coverage that includes coverage for physician services in a physician's office, and every policy which provides major medical or similar comprehensive-type coverage excluding disability income, long term care and insurance supplemental policies which only provide coverage for specified diseases or other supplemental policies, shall:

(c) For the purposes of this section, “genetic testing” is the analysis of an individual's DNA, RNA, chromosomes, proteins and certain metabolites in order to detect heritable disease-related genotypes, mutations, phenotypes or karyotypes for clinical purposes. Those purposes include predicting risk of disease, identifying carriers, establishing prenatal and clinical diagnosis or prognosis. Prenatal, newborn and carrier screening, as well as testing in high risk families may be included provided there is an approved release by a parent or guardian. Tests for metabolites are covered only when they are undertaken with high probability that an excess of deficiency of the metabolite indicates the presence of heritable mutations in single genes. “Genetic testing” does not mean routine physical measurement, a routine chemical, blood, or urine analysis or a test for drugs or for HIV infections.