Genetic Information Act on its way

By G. Phillip Shuler

The U.S. House and Senate have passed the Genetic Information - Non-Discrimination Act, which has been sent to President Bush, who has indicated that he will sign it. The House passed the bill by a vote of 414-1, with libertarian Ron Paul as the lone dissenter.

The act would prohibit employers from discharging, refusing to hire, or otherwise discriminating against employees on the basis of genetic information.  It would apply to employment agencies and labor unions as well.

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

In regard to employment discrimination, the bill would:

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

In regard to health insurance discrimination, the bill would:

• Prohibit enrollment restriction and premium adjustment on the basis of genetic information or genetic services
• Prevent health plans and insurers from requesting or requiring that an individual take a genetic test
• Cover all health insurance programs, including those under ERISA, state-regulated plans and the individual market
• Thirty-four states currently ban genetic discrimination in the workplace. The legislation does not preempt any such state law.

Additionally, the bill includes child labor language that would increase fines for employer violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act that cause the death or serious injury of a child.

The bill also includes a provision that would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to increase the penalty for child labor violations of $10,000 to $11,000 per violation, but also adds a provision allowing the Labor Department to assess penalties of up to $50,000 when a violation results in death or serious injury and a possible $100,000 penalty for repeat violations.

The provision mirrors language in H.R. 2637 that was approved by the House in June 2007. Finally, the provision would increase from $1,000 to $1,100 the civil penalty for any repeated or willful violation of minimum wage or maximum hours requirements.

The language related to the Fair Labor Standards Act was included in the underlying genetic discrimination bill during House debate last year. It was included to provide an offset for funding for the underlying bill. The penalty increase is expected to net about $1 million annually.