HILL BRIEFS

House Clears Genetic Nondiscrimination Bill

Thu. May 1, 2008


Health. The House today passed, 414-1, a genetic nondiscrimination bill that has been languishing in Congress over a decade. The bill passed the Senate 95-0 last week, and the White House has indicated its support. The bill makes it illegal to deny insurance or employment to people based on their genetic information. It also bars employers or insurers from requiring genetic tests, except in certain cases regarding hiring for law enforcement crime labs and the armed forces. The measure passed the Senate twice with overwhelming majorities in 2003 and 2005, but each time GOP House leaders were unwilling to take it up. When the bill was being negotiated in the Senate five years ago, it faced stiff resistance from the business community and health providers. Since then, however, negotiations between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee alleviated some of the concerns. Among other things, remedies for genetic discrimination victims in the bill are identical to those for victims of other types of discrimination. "Since no one is born with perfect genes, we are all potential victims of genetic discrimination," said bill sponsor Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y.