Senate passes ban on genetic discrimination

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The U.S. Senate on Thursday unanimously approved legislation to bar health insurers and employers from discriminating against people with a genetic predisposition to disease.

Sponsors said a growing understanding of the human genetic code created a need for protections to make sure scientific breakthroughs were used to promote health, not discrimination.

The bill prevents health insurers from excluding people from coverage or charging them higher rates due to a genetic risk or predisposition to a disease. Insurers could not require customers to take genetic tests.

Employers would be barred from making hiring or firing decisions based on genetic information.

The measure covers public and private health plans, employers, employment agencies, labor organizations and training programs. It also tightens protections on the privacy of medical information.

The Senate passed nearly identical legislation in 2003, but it died in the House of Representatives.

Lead House sponsor Louise Slaughter, a New York Democrat, said that a bipartisan majority of House members have publicly supported the bill, and she hopes to overcome opposition from a small group of Republican leaders and business lobbyists. The Chamber of Commerce, for instance, opposes the Senate bill.

“It has been astonishing to me that the Senate can pass this unanimously and the White House supports it, and a couple of outside groups can block this,” Slaughter said.

The White House has endorsed the legislation but some business groups have opposed it, saying it will add regulatory burdens without improving consumer protection.

But backers, including new Senate health committee chairman Mike Enzi, a conservative Wyoming Republican, said clear national rules, rather than a hodgepodge of state regulations, is in everyone’s interest.

“Establishing these protections will allay concerns about the potential for discrimination, and it will encourage individuals to participate in genetic research and to take advantage of genetic testing, new technologies and new therapies,” Enzi said.

Many people who could benefit from certain genetic screening tests do not take them for fear of losing health coverage for themselves or their families. “People fear cancer but many also fear losing their jobs or their health insurance even more,” said Massachusetts Democrat Sen. Edward Kennedy, the senior Democrat on the health panel.

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