COPD Health Center

You may decide not to be tested because:

• You do not have symptoms of lung disease.
• No one in your family has AAT deficiency or lung or liver disease.
• You would be worried if you knew that you might get lung or liver disease some day.
• You do not smoke and you already are taking good care of yourself. You think there is nothing more you could do to prevent or delay the disease.
• The test cannot predict whether you will ever have symptoms of this condition.
• You do not have insurance or your insurance would not pay for the test.
• You are worried that the test results might cause problems for you at work or make it hard for you to get health insurance. It's important to know that a law in the United States, called the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA), protects people who have genetic differences that may affect their health. GINA prevents employers and health insurance companies from using genetic information about people to affect decisions. This law does not cover life insurance, disability insurance, or long-term care insurance.