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  • 2017-03-10 (xsd:date)
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  • Does H.R. 1313 Require Employees to Submit to Genetic Testing? (en)
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  • On 8 March 2017, the House Committee on Education and and the Workforce moved forward with a bill that has been criticized by both geneticists and disability advocates for allegedly placing the privacy of workers' genetic records at risk. H.R. 1313 states that employers may provide additional insurance premium discounts to workers who take part in their companies' voluntary wellness programs. Once enrolled, the bill says, businesses are allowed to collect information about the manifested disease or disorder of a family member of participating employees. The bill, which was sponsored by committee chair Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), does not in and of itself require employees to enroll in such programs. But it notes that according to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, employers could reduce annual health insurance premiums by up to 50 percent for employees who did take part. A spokesperson for the committee told us via e-mail that such programs would continue to be voluntary if the bill became law: A May 2016 ruling by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) stated that premiums could be cut by 30 percent for individuals and 60 percent for couples who enrolled in such programs. But under the new bill, premiums could be cut by up to 50 percent. The EEOC has also sued employers accused of imposing penalties on workers who refused to join their wellness programs. The American Society of Human Genetics criticized the bill, saying that it would fundamentally undermine the privacy protections covered by the the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA): National Council on Disability chair Clyde Terry said in a letter to Foxx and the committee's ranking member, Rep. Robert C. Scott (D-VA) that the increase in potential premium cuts for employees in their workplace programs opens the door to discrimination by employers. Terry wrote: The GINA bill, which was passed in 2008, also prohibits employers from using genetic information as the basis for hiring, terminating, or promoting their employees. But both that measure and the ADA contain exceptions for wellness programs. Vendors operating the programs are often not required to follow the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which restricts the information doctors and hospitals can share regarding their patients. In a statement supporting the bill, GOP Rep. Bradley Byrne of Alabama accused the EEOC of trying to undermine efforts to lower health care costs through the use of wellness programs: A 2015 study found that 81 percent of U.S. companies with more than 200 employees offer wellness programs, while 49 percent of companies with smaller workforces do the same. The bill has been forwarded to the House Ways and Means Committee. (en)
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