The federal government issued new rules on October 1 protect individuals against having genetic information used unfairly to raise health insurance rates, deny health insurance, or limit coverage because of pre-existing conditions.

As part of the implementation of the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (GINA), the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury published the new regulations in the Federal Register, providing for a comment period before they become final.

In addition, the Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Health and Human Services proposed changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to clarify that genetic information is health information.  As such, insurance companies cannot use or disclose genetic information to compute premiums, deny coverage, or deny benefits because of pre-existing conditions.  Penalties for violating the HIPAA Privacy Rules range from $100 to $50,000 for each violation. Read the rest of this entry »

Watch an interview with Dr. Francis Collins on the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) produced by the New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Collins is the Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). Read the rest of this entry »

C3 would like to thank President Bush for signing into law the Genetic Non-Discrimination Information Act (GINA) today. This monumental legislation will protect Americans from discrimination based on an individual’s genetic information in health insurance coverage and employment settings.

“This is a tremendous victory for every American not born with perfect genes – which means it’s a victory for every single one us,” said Representative Louise Slaughter (D-NY). “Since all of us are predisposed to at least a few genetic-based disorders, we are all potential victims of genetic discrimination.”

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