Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act Signed Into Law by President Bush

President Bush Signs GINA Bill On May 21 President Bush signed into law a bill (H.R. 493) that prohibits genetic discrimination in the workplace. NBCA has supported this legislation and worked with a broad coalition to secure passage of the bill. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act prohibits employers from discharging, refusing to hire, or otherwise discriminating against employees on the basis of genetic information. It applies to employment agencies and labor unions as well.

The law aims to eliminate any fear of discrimination held by those who now decline to undergo potentially beneficial genetic tests. The law also amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the Public Health Service Act to preclude discrimination by group health plans and health insurance issuers against individuals based on genetic information and prohibits insurers from requiring genetic tests.

By a vote of 414-1, the House approved the bill May 1. The Senate approved the bill with a 95-0 vote April 24.

In regard to employment discrimination, the law:

prohibits discrimination on the basis of genetic information in hiring, compensation, and other personnel processes;
prohibits the collection of genetic information by employers and allows workplace genetic testing only in very limited circumstances, such as monitoring the adverse effects of hazardous workplace exposures; and,
requires genetic information possessed by employers to be confidentially maintained and disclosed only to the employee or under other tightly controlled circumstances.

In regard to health insurance discrimination, the law:

prohibits enrollment restriction and premium adjustment on the basis of genetic information or genetic services;
prevents health plans and insurers from requesting or requiring that an individual take a genetic test; and,
covers all health insurance programs, including those under ERISA, state-regulated plans, and the individual market.

Forty-one states have enacted laws to protect the public from genetic discrimination by insurance companies, according to the National Genome Research Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health. The federal law does not preempt state laws that are more protective.

Click for more information on the Genetic Information and Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)

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