A bill to protect personal genetic information from misuse by employers and insurance companies was approved by the House Education and Labor Committee on February 14, 2007. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee recently passed companion legislation (S. 358), and President Bush has indicated his support for a prohibition against genetic discrimination.
Like the Senate bill, the House proposal, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (H.R. 493), would prohibit employers, employment agencies, and labor organizations from using genetic information when making hiring, firing, job placement, or promotion decisions. It would make it illegal for group health plans and health insurers to deny coverage to healthy individuals or charge them higher premiums based on a genetic predisposition to a disease.
The bill's supporters say it would encourage Americans to take advantage of genetic testing without fear of discrimination. Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-N.Y.), the bill's sponsor, said her legislation would "help our country to be a leader in a field of scientific research that holds as much promise as any other in history."
Recent cases, Slaughter said, highlight the need for the protections contained in her legislation. In 1998, Lawrence Livermore Laboratories in California was found to have performed tests for syphilis, pregnancy, and sickle cell anemia on employees without their knowledge or consent, Slaughter said. In 2000, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad came under considerable criticism for performing genetic tests on employees without their knowledge.
Slaughter's bipartisan bill enjoys considerable support in the House, with more than 200 co-sponsors. The Senate passed similar legislation in the 108th and 109th Congress, but those bills failed to become law.
According to the Education and Labor Committee, 41 states have passed laws to prohibit discrimination in the individual health insurance market, and 34 states ban genetic discrimination in the workplace.
CCH Washington Bureau, Feb. 15, 2007.
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