New Legislation Could Allow Employers To Demand Genetic Testing
A bill making its way through Congress would allow employers to force their employees who receive insurance at work to pony-up their DNA test results...almost. The bill doesn't actually mandate employees submit to genetic testing and hand over the results to their bosses, but it comes pretty close. The bill allows employers to levy fines against those who refuse, while at the same time, those who do are rewarded with lower insurance rates. So although employees aren't forced to divulge their most personal, private health information to their employers, there's some heavy-duty arm-twisting involved.
The idea behind the bill builds on the concept of "Workplace Wellness Programs," whereby employers give discounted insurance rates to employees who demonstrate they are healthier than their peers. After all, healthier employees are better for a company's bottom line. They gobble-up less money from the corporate insurance policy and are generally more productive as they do not take as many sick days, smoke breaks, and so forth.
The way workplace wellness programs work is, employees show proof that they have achieved various standards of healthy living such as maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, completing smoking cessation programs and maintaining healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels (although there is disagreement within the medical community about whether high cholesterol leads to heart disease).
This new bill takes it a step further by looking at an employee's entire DNA profile. The idea is to spot potential red flags, such as genes linked to increased risk of disease.
The new bill, HR 1313, sponsored by North Carolina Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx, is called the "Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act," and is currently under review with the House Ways and Means Committee. It essentially revokes employees' right to privacy for their personal health and genetic information — which is currently protected under the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. Congress passed GINA in 2008 specifically to protect employees from discrimination based on potential health risks they carry in their genes.
"What this bill would do is completely take away the protections of existing laws," Jennifer Mathis, director of policy and legal advocacy at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, told STAT News.
The bill was introduced earlier this months and approved by the Republican-leaning House Committee on Education and the Workforce. The 22 Republicans voted to approve, and all 17 Democrats on the committee opposed. The committee released a statement saying that the bill would give employers "the legal certainty they need to offer employee wellness plans, helping to promote a healthy workforce and lower health care costs."
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price told NBC News he hadn't yet looked at the bill, but that it "sounds like there would be some significant concerns about it."
