Genetic Nondiscrimination in Health Insurance: A Side-by-Side Comparison of the Title I Provisions in S. 358 and H.R. 493 (CRS Report for Congress)
Premium Purchase PDF for $24.95 (16 pages)
add to cart or
subscribe for unlimited access
Pro Premium subscribers have free access to our full library of CRS reports.
Subscribe today, or
request a demo to learn more.
| Release Date |
Revised April 25, 2008 |
| Report Number |
RL33988 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
C. Stephen Redhead and Amanda K. Sarata, Domestic Social Policy Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
-
Premium May 2, 2007 (14 pages, $24.95)
add
|
Summary:
On March 29, 2007, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007 (S. 358). The HELP Committee filed a report to accompany S. 358 on April 10 (S.Rept. 110-48). S. 358 is awaiting Senate floor action. On April 25, the House passed its own version of the legislation (H.R. 493) on a vote of 420-3. Earlier, the measure was reported by the Education and Labor Committee (H.Rept. 110-28, Part I), the Ways and Means Committee (H.Rept. 110-28, Part II), and the Energy and Commerce Committee (H.Rept. 110-28, Parts III & IV). On March 5, 2008, the text of H.R. 493, as passed by the House, was added to the end of the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007 (H.R. 1424) in the engrossment of H.R. 1424. On April 24, 2008, the Senate took up H.R. 493, replaced the existing language with an amendment in the nature of a substitute, and passed the measure, as amended, by a vote of 95-0. H.R. 493, as amended and passed by the Senate, is very similar to the version passed by the House last year. The most significant difference is new language strengthening the "firewall" between Title I and Title II of the act. The House is expected to pass H.R. 493 (as amended) during the week of April 28, 2008. 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 S. 358 and H.R. 493. 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 report, CRS Report RL33987, Genetic Nondiscrimination 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.
