How Much Should Newborns Be Screened?
One in 750 children is born with a genetic disorder detectable by newborn screening…… The American College of Medical Genetics, the registered authority on newborn screening, recommends that states screen for 48 genetic diseases…… Texas only screens for 27 genetic diseases at birth.
How about letting parents decide?
Actually, this is a case where insurers face imperfect incentives. Odds are the family will stay on it’s current insurance plan for only a few years. So the insurer will tend to pay for a test only if the expected medical cost reduction exceeds the cost of the test (given overwhelmingly to healthy babies).
But the socially optimal decision is to pay for the test if it yields a positive rate of return over the child’s entire lifetime — not just the next few years.
Since insurers (for this reason) will tend to under-test, there is some pubic policy interest in requiring more tests than insurers would otherwise pay for.
Bruce, if there were no insurance, the financial incentives for the family would be socially optimal. Since the family chooses what insurance to buy, it’s not clear that there is a case for intervention here.