(USA TODAY) After two of Doris Goldman's grown children died mysteriously in their sleep, in 1981 and 1991, the Irvine, Calif., woman consulted doctors to find out if others in her family might suffer the same fate. Sophisticated tests showed that Goldman and 22 relatives, including grandson Jacob Turner, have a genetic abnormality that can cause irregular heart rhythms. Thanks to the early warning, doctors prescribed drugs that are expected to head off heart problems for young Jacob. But insurers used the inside information to refuse the child medical coverage. Welcome to the brave new world of chromosomal clairvoyance. Genetic tests now can identify persons with a genetic predisposition to 450 different medical disorders. Think of it as an early-warning system that flags a susceptibility to conditions ranging from cancer to obesity. But genetic tests also are red flags for insurers and employers. Worried about high medical costs, many use them to deny health insurance and jobs to people who are perfectly healthy and may remain so. Genetic tests don't diagnose disease. They merely highlight genetic risks, often in time for prevention or early treatment. Yet the federal government says a survey of families with genetic disorders showed 22% were refused health coverage based on their genetic heritage. And the Cambridge-based Council for Responsible Genetics has documented more than 200 cases in which genetic testing has cost healthy people their insurance, jobs or privacy. In one of the most egregious examples, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a federal contractor, is being sued by employees for secretly using blood tests obtained during company physicals to test African- Americans for the sickle cell gene. President Clinton is calling for legislation to battle genetic discrimination on two fronts: barring health insurers from refusing coverage or raising premiums because of a person's genetic lineage, and barring insurers from releasing genetic information without a patient's permission. That's a good start. Thanks to a similar California law, Jacob Turner finally got health insurance last year. But most state laws, and Clinton's proposal, only clamp down on health insurance companies. They do nothing to stop the abuses of employers and other insurers. Though Doris Goldman has never had heart disease, she still can't buy disability insurance because of her genetic history. And even Clinton's bill won't protect employees at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab from future genetic testing abuses. It doesn't apply to employers. Now that researchers have mapped 25% of the 80,000 genes found in the human body, they estimate that each of us has between five and 30 genetic abnormalities. Without new protections, insurers and employers have between five and 30 reasons to discriminate against us all. Genetic testing What genetic testing does: Genetic tests can be used to identify persons with a genetic susceptibility to 450 different medical disorders, often in time for early treatment. State laws: Nineteen states have laws restricting the way health insurers use genetic information. But laws vary widely and do not protect half of all insured Americans who receive coverage through self-insured companies. Those states are: Alabama; Arizona; California; Colorado; Florida; Georgia; Indiana; Maryland; Minnesota; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New York; North Carolina; Ohio; Oklahoma; Oregon; Tennessee; Virginia; and Wisconsin. Federal law: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which took effect July 1, prohibits insurers from using genetic information to deny people health coverage through group plans, but it does not apply to the individual insurance market. Source: USA TODAY research Copyright 1997, USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co., Inc. Lacking safeguards, genetic tests invite discrimination..