In the past most consumers feared discrimination from health insurance agencies based on pre-existing conditions. It was, and still is, a sad fact that if you have an illness before you set out to get coverage, you're not likely to find an insurer who will cover you at an affordable rate.

But today, there seems to be a new way that consumers can be denied coverage based on their health - or their potential health. According to Kaiser's Daily Health Policy Report, physicians say that some patients refuse to take genetic tests that would help them make more informed decisions about their health care "because of the potentially dire economic consequences." They're afraid that if they're genetically inclined towards an illness, their health insurance company might dump them.

And to a degree, they could be right. Recently Blue Cross and Health Net were both censured for rescinding policies when consumers, who had been paying their health insurance for some time, fell sick.

But this week, a new twist in the law might save consumers from further fears. Health Net is expected to pay $9 million dollars to a woman who sued when her coverage was cut short after her diagnosis with breast cancer. Better still, Health Net has decided to end their policy of rescinding health insurance at all until such decisions can be approved by a third party.

Hopefully this means that discrimination based on health will soon be a thing of the past, and all Americans will enjoy the medical insurance coverage they deserve.