Genetic Nondiscrimination in Health Insurance: A Side-by-Side Comparison of the Title I Provisions in H.R. 493 and S. 358

Publication Date: May 2007

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

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Research Area: Law and ethics; Social conditions

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Abstract:

On April 25, the House passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007, H.R. 493, on a vote of 420-3. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved similar legislation (S. 358). S. 358 is awaiting Senate floor action. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act would restrict health insurers' (Title I) and employers' (Title II) acquisition and use of genetic information in several ways. These restrictions build upon those already imposed in federal law.

This report provides a comparison of the Title I provisions in H.R. 493 and S. 358. Those provisions would extend the current Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protections against discrimination by group health plans and issuers of health insurance in both the group and individual markets, and restrict their collection, use and disclosure of genetic information. A separate CRS Report, RL33987, Genetic Non-discrimination in Employment: A Comparison of Title II Provisions in S. 358 and H.R. 493, 110th Congress, by Nancy Lee Jones, discusses the Title II employment provisions.