Genetic Discrimination Bill Waits In Senate
Posted September 17, 2007 by Dr. T.R. Morris
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) in April of 2007. The Senate version of GINA (S.358) is still in process.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 was the first federal protection against genetic discrimination. The act prohibited health insurers from excluding individuals from group coverage due to past or present medical problems, including genetic predisposition to disease. The law specifically stated that without a current diagnosis of illness, genetic information in the absence of did not constitute a preexisting condition.
Sounds great, right? A closer look reveals that HIPAA left the door wide open for genetic discrimination. Specifically, It did not stop insurers from requiring applicants to undergo genetic testing, didn’t prevent charging higher insurance rates to people with genetic risk factors, didn’t stop insurers from collecting genetic information, and didn’t stop or limit the disclosure of genetic information about individuals to insurers. Pretty big holes if you ask me.
Later on, the (Bill) Clinton Administration supported Nationwide laws strengthening HIPAA protections, but they failed to pass congress. In February 2000, Clinton issued an executive order prohibiting federal agencies from obtaining or using genetic information in hiring and promotion decisions.
On April 25, 2007, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) of 2007, H.R. 493, was passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, by a vote of 420-3. The GINA Senate bill, S. 358, has yet to be voted on in the Senate.
In case you are curious about what protections are in place now, check out the National Human Genome Research Institute’s (NHGRI) Genetic Discrimination Fact Sheet.
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