SINGAPORE: Singapore will launch a national health programme on Jun 30 targeting a hereditary cholesterol condition. Health Minister Ong Ye Kung has described the programme as the country’s first preventive care programme based on genetic testing.
As Singapore expands its use of genetic testing in preventive healthcare, the question of insurance fairness looms large. Here’s what you need to know about the moratorium that protects your data and your coverage.
What is a genetic testing moratorium and why does Singapore have one?
A genetic testing moratorium is an agreement that restricts how life insurers can use genetic test results when evaluating applications for insurance. It aims to prevent genetic discrimination, ensuring that individuals are not penalised for potential health risks identified through genetic screening.
Countries that have such guidelines include Singapore, the United Kingdom and Canada.
In Singapore, insurers cannot use predictive genetic test results – used to predict future risk of diseases – in assessing or deciding the outcome of insurance applications, unless certain criteria are satisfied.
Genetic tests analyse one’s DNA, RNA, chromosomes or specific genes to identify changes that may be linked to inherited conditions, disease risk and the likelihood of passing on conditions to one’s children.
In Singapore’s case, a moratorium on genetic testing and insurance was introduced by the Health Ministry (MOH) and the Life Insurance Association Singapore (LIA) in October 2021.
In June 2025, the moratorium was expanded to include all predictive and diagnostic test results from the national familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) genetic testing programme.
Under the agreement, life insurers in Singapore are also not allowed to use genetic test results from biomedical research or direct-to-consumer genetic test results.
This means individuals do not need to worry that participating in MOH’s genetic testing initiative will affect their ability to get life insurance, critical illness coverage. or similar products.
The framework applies to all LIA members, including life insurers and reinsurers that are licensed to operate in Singapore.
What does the moratorium mean for you?
In your insurance applications, insurers may ask that you confirm you have read and understood the moratorium.
Under the moratorium, insurers cannot require or pressure you to take a genetic test for insurance underwriting. This applies to all such tests, including predictive, diagnostic, pharmacogenetic or prenatal and newborn screening genetic tests.
Insurance underwriting is the process that insurers take to evaluate the risk of insuring a person and decide how much he or she should pay for coverage.
In addition, if you have done genetic testing under the new national FH genetic testing programme, insurers are not allowed to ask for or use your test results, both predictive and diagnostic, in insurance underwriting.
A predictive test reveals the risk of developing a condition in the future, while a diagnostic test confirms a current illness.
