Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Senate Passes Ban on Genetic Discrimination

The Senate voted Thursday, April 24, to ban insurers and others from basing health care coverage on genetic information.

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, S. 358, prohibits group health plans or issuers of individual health care policies from basing eligibility determinations or adjusting premiums or contributions on the basis of genetic information. The measure bans health plans and insurers from requesting, requiring or purchasing the results of genetic tests and from disclosing genetic information.
The bill prohibits employers from firing, refusing to hire or otherwise discriminating against workers with respect to compensation and other terms of employment on the basis of genetic information. Like insurers, employers are banned from requesting, requiring or buying genetic information. [To see the entire article, go to: http://www.workforce.com/section/00/article/25/49/63.html ]

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