If I may, I'll start with the second question first, the one about genetic discrimination.
One of the most common examples of genetic discrimination would be Huntington's disease. If your parent has it, there's a 50-50 chance that you will too. Everyone has to fill out an insurance form where you are asked questions about any conditions that are in your family. Huntington's disease would be one that has a red flag attached to it.
Some people feel that if it's in their family they may be denied insurance, or they are pressured in some way, and we have seen this in employment situations as well, to get genetic testing. That's a very personal thing. If a person with Huntington's is found to have the gene, they know at some point during their life they are going to develop this devastating disease. That's a very personal thing. A lot of people don't want to do it. I think it's made people feel that because something is in their family, they're going to be discriminated against, or they are going to be put in a position to receive information that they perhaps are not able to deal with or process. The impact that could have on a family is really unfair. We know that these people are not protected currently.
There was a story of two sisters who wanted to open a physiotherapy clinic, I believe, but Huntington's was in their family and they were denied insurance. They were tested for the gene and they did not have the gene. They went back with this information and then they were accepted.
People shouldn't have to be put in a position of having to receive potentially devastating information like that, and to have to do it because of their livelihood or to fulfill any dream or aspiration that they have been working toward. I would give that as an example for genetic discrimination.
With respect to what the federal government can do, in terms of the technology piece, I think that's a really important question. Unfortunately, sitting here at this moment, I don't have the answer. As I said, I think a lot more investigation needs to be done as to what is being offered.
The other part of the issue is I tried to reach out to a couple of people who are involved in the communication devices piece to ask if they knew what was happening. I had a response from one clinician from the U.S. It's a little bit spotty when it comes to who holds that type of information, and I wasn't able to get it. It's something that NHCC is absolutely committed to looking into further, but I apologize that I don't have anything concrete.