Reply to HR 1313 -- Emloyees will need to choose: disclose genetic information or pay higher premiums

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[quote=Anonymous]On March 8, the House Education and the Workforce Committee approved The Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act (H.R. 1313), which will create holes to the protection provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.

The bill could be folded into a second ACA related measure to be introduced later this year.

Here is my quick summary of the issues associated with H.R. 1313 (I encourage everyone to do some research so that they can reach their own conclusions):

1. Employers would be permitted to ask employees to "voluntarily" participate in wellness programs that would require employees to provide genetic information about themselves and their family members (i.e., employee may be asked to submit to genetic testing and to provide medical histories for family members).

2. Employer would be permitted to charge an employee 30 to 50 percent more for health insurance if the employee declines to participate in a "voluntary" wellness program.

3.  The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act's requirement that employees' genetic information collected through a workplace wellness program only be shared with health care professionals would no longer apply. It has been suggested companies that run such wellness programs will be permitted to sell this data.

Nancy Cox, president of the American Society of Human Genetics, in a letter to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce summed up the problem with H.R. 1313: “It would allow employers to ask employees invasive questions about … genetic tests they and their families have undergone” and “to impose stiff financial penalties on employees who choose to keep such information private, thus empowering employers to coerce their employees” into providing their genetic information.
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