Senate bars use of genetic tests in hiring, health coverage
WASHINGTON - Companies and health insurers would be forbidden to use the results of genetic tests to deny people jobs or medical coverage under legislation approved 95 to 0 yesterday by the US Senate.
The measure, an amended version of one the House passed a year ago, is intended to protect people from discrimination based on DNA tests showing a genetic predisposition to disease. The House is expected to accept the Senate changes, and President Bush is expected to sign the legislation.
Genetic tests can help predict a person's likelihood of getting cancers and other diseases and are used by researchers seeking new treatments. The legislation would bar insurers from using test results to deny coverage or raise premiums. Employers would be blocked from collecting genetic information and using the results in hiring or firing. This will enable people to get tested without fear of repercussion, supporters said.
"For the first time, we are acting to stop discrimination before it happens," Olympia Snowe, a Maine Republican, said on the Senate floor before the vote. "This will open an entire new universe of infinite possibilities for so many Americans and generations to come."
Health plans and insurers also would be barred from requiring that patients take particular gene tests.
"This bill recognizes that discrimination based on a person's genetic identity is just as unacceptable as discrimination based on a person's race or religion," Senator Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, said. "The administration cooperated and we are grateful for its support."
The legislation would make it easier for scientists working to uncover links between genetics and common diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, said Kathy Hudson, director of the Washington-based Genetics and Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University.
More than 90 percent of people in the United States surveyed by the center say one of their biggest concerns about taking part in such medical research is the possibility that their genetic information will be used against them, Hudson said.
"Now, researchers will be able to say no, it won't happen," Hudson said.
The legislation also removes an obstacle that keeps some people from getting tested to find out whether they have a high risk of developing diseases such as breast or colon cancer, said Gregory Critchfield, president of Myriad Genetics Laboratories, a unit of Salt Lake City-based Myriad Genetics Inc.
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