Search

The article reports that the U.S. House has passed a genetic nondiscrimination bill that has been languishing in the Congress over a decade. The bill passed the Senate earlier, 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 article reports that actual bipartisanship is breaking out on health care legislation in the U.S. Congress. The Congress has cleared a genetic nondiscrimination act that has been mired in the legislative process for more than a decade. Moreover, the legislation for mental health parity may emerge from conference before the end of the session and there appears broad bipartisan support for a bill to require electronic prescribing by physicians in the Medicare program.

The article reports on the major legislative measures before the U.S. Congress. Both chambers are looking to finish the long-overdue farm bill conference and continue working toward a budget resolution as the appropriations season begins to loom. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will bring to the floor a plan to modernize the nation's air traffic control system and the House is expected to pass a genetic nondiscrimination bill and the combustible dust and fire prevention bill.

The article reports that the U.S. Senate has passed a genetic nondiscrimination bill that has been languishing in the Congress for over a decade. House leaders expect to take up the same bill and pass it quickly and send it to the White House. The measure would make it illegal to deny insurance or employment to people based on their genetic information.

The article presents a quotation from U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Edward M. Kennedy. He was talking on the Senate outlook for a genetic nondiscrimination bill that was on the House floor. He said that they are talking to the secretary of Health and Human Services to try to persuade him. He added that it isn't a her, it's a him, not a Democrat, not from the Eastern part of the country nor from the Western part of the country.

The article reports that U.S. House has passed the legislation to ban genetic discrimination. The law sponsored by Representative Louise Slaughter makes it illegal for a health plan or insurer to deny coverage or charge higher premiums to a healthy person based solely on the genetic predisposition to a disease. Similarly, an employer could not use genetic information while hiring, firing or promotion. The White House, in a statement, expressed support for the legislation.

The article reports that the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee has voted unanimously to bar group health insurers from jacking up rates for covered groups on the basis of genetic ailments in members of the group. Although similar legislation has twice passed the Senate, the House has not followed suit. Provisions in the bill expressly ban a group health plan from collecting genetic information. A genetic test is an analysis of human DNA, RNA, chromosomes, proteins, or metabolites.