What is Newborn Genetic Screening?

Newborn genetic screening is a health program that identifies treatable genetic disorders in newborn infants. Early intervention to treat these disorders can eliminate or reduce symptoms that might otherwise cause a lifetime of disability.

Who performs newborn screening?

Newborn genetic screening programs are conducted worldwide. In the United States, newborn screening programs are developed and run by individual states. Each state decides which disorders to test for and how to cover the costs of screening.

Who performs newborn screening

Newborn Screening: What Parents Need to Know

Who is screened and how is it paid for?

In most cases, newborn infants are automatically screened in the hospital shortly after delivery.

Individual states in the United States finance their newborn screening programs in different ways. Most states collect a fee for screening, which ranges from less than $15 to nearly $60 per newborn. Health insurance or other programs can pay this fee for the newborn's parents.

Often, the fee charged does not fully cover the cost of screening, so public health system funding is used to supplement the program. Financing a screening program comes with an expectation that the benefits of testing - early detection and treatment - will equal or exceed the cost.

Who is screened?

Who decides?

Lawmakers in each state have enacted legislation that defines the state's newborn screening program. From time to time, these programs need review and revision to incorporate new technologies, address financial issues and ensure that the screening program is meeting the needs of the state's residents.

When developing a policy, lawmakers must consider the following questions

  • Which disorders should be included in the screening program?
  • Who pays for the screening program, and how?
  • Who should be screened?
  • Who has access to test results?
  • Who benefits from the screening program?
  • What are the potential risks of screening?
Who decides?
  • Funding

    Funded by grant R01HG006266 from the NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the NIH National Human Genome Research Institute, both part of the National Institutes of Health. The contents provided here are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIH.


APA format:

Genetic Science Learning Center. (2014, February 15) What is Newborn Genetic Screening?. Retrieved March 24, 2024, from https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/disorders/screening/

CSE format:

What is Newborn Genetic Screening? [Internet]. Salt Lake City (UT): Genetic Science Learning Center; 2014 [cited 2024 Mar 24] Available from https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/disorders/screening/

Chicago format:

Genetic Science Learning Center. "What is Newborn Genetic Screening?." Learn.Genetics. February 15, 2014. Accessed March 24, 2024. https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/disorders/screening/.