59–006 

110TH CONGRESS REPT. 110–28 " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session Part 4 

GENETIC INFORMATION NONDISCRIMINATION ACT OF 

2007 

APRIL 19, 2007.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. DINGELL, from the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 

submitted the following 

SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT 

[To accompany H.R. 493] 

This supplemental report shows the cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office with respect to the bill (H.R. 493), as reported, 

which was not included in part 3 of the report submitted by the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce on March 29, 2007 (H. Rept. 

110–28, pt. 3). 

CONTENTS 

Page 

Committee Cost Estimate ....................................................................................... 1 

Congressional Budget Office Estimate ................................................................... 1 

Federal Mandates Statement ................................................................................. 3 

COMMITTEE COST ESTIMATE

The Committee on Energy and Commerce adopts as its own the 

cost estimate prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 

Office pursuant to section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 

1974. 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE ESTIMATE

Regarding clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, the following is the cost estimate provided by 

the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 402 of the 

Congressional Budget Act of 1974: 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with HEARING
2 

U.S. CONGRESS, CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, Washington, DC, April 16, 2007. 

Hon. JOHN D. DINGELL, 

Chairman, Committee on Energy and Commerce, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 493, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Shinobu Suzuki. 

Sincerely, 

PETER R. ORSZAG. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 493—Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007 

H.R. 493 would amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act, and Title 

XVIII of the Social Security Act to prohibit the use of genetic information (including results of genetic tests and family history of disease) by employers in employment decisions and by health insurers 

and health plans in making enrollment determinations and setting 

insurance premiums. 

CBO estimates that enacting the bill would increase the number 

of individuals who obtain health insurance by about 600 people per 

year, nearly all of whom would obtain insurance in the individual 

market. The bill would affect federal revenues because the premiums paid by some of those newly insured individuals would be 

tax-deductible. 

CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 493 would reduce revenues by 

less than $500,000 in each year from 2008 through 2017, by $1 million over the 2008–2012 period, and by $2 million over the 2008–

2017 period. (These estimates include reductions in off-budget receipts from Social Security payroll taxes of less than $500,000 over 

the 2008–2012 period, and slightly less than $1 million over the 

2008–2017 period.) The bill’s requirements would apply to Medicare supplemental insurance, which could affect direct spending for 

Medicare. However, we estimate that the bill would have no significant effect on direct spending. 

The bill would require the Secretaries of Health and Human 

Services (HHS), Labor, and the Treasury to issue regulations to 

carry out the provisions of this bill, and would require the Secretaries of HHS and Labor to enforce those provisions. In addition, 

six years after enactment, the bill would establish a commission to 

review the science of genetics and to make recommendations to the 

Congress on the need to establish a disparate impact standard for 

genetic discrimination. The bill would authorize the appropriation 

of such sums as necessary to establish the commission and to carry 

out the other provisions of the bill. Assuming the availability of appropriated funds, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 493 

would incur discretionary costs of less than $500,000 in 2008 and 

$2 million over the 2008–2017 period. 

H.R. 493 would preempt some state laws that establish confidentiality standards for genetic information, and would restrict how 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with HEARING
3 

state and local governments use such information in employment 

practices and in the provision of health care to employees. The preemption and the limitations on state and local actions would be 

intergovernmental mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates 

Reform Act (UMRA), but there is little indication that state, local, 

or tribal governments currently engage in or are likely to engage 

in the activities that would be prohibited by the bill. Consequently, 

CBO estimates that the costs of the mandates would not be significant and would not exceed the threshold established in UMRA ($66 

million in 2007, adjusted annually for inflation). 

The bill contains private-sector mandates on health insurers, 

health plans, employers, labor unions, and other organizations. 

CBO estimates that the direct cost of those requirements would not 

exceed the annual threshold specified in UMRA ($131 million in 

2007, adjusted annually for inflation) in any of the first five years 

that the mandates would be effective. 

CBO has prepared two previous estimates for H.R. 493. On 

March 2, 2007, CBO transmitted an estimate for H.R. 493 as ordered reported by the House Committee on Education and Labor 

on February 14, 2007. On March 23, 2007, CBO transmitted an estimate for H.R. 493 as ordered reported by the House Committee 

on Ways and Means on March 21, 2007. The Ways and Means 

version differs from the other two versions in that it would make 

conforming modifications to the Internal Revenue Code. CBO and 

the Joint Committee on Taxation estimate that those conforming 

modifications would have no incremental budgetary effect. The Energy and Commerce version differs from the other two versions in 

that it makes conforming modifications to privacy and confidentiality provisions of the Public Health Services Act and the Social 

Security Act. CBO estimates that those modifications would have 

no incremental budgetary effect. Thus, CBO’s estimates for the 

three versions of the legislation are identical. 

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Shinobu Suzuki (for 

federal costs), Leo Lex (for the state and local impact), and Stuart 

Hagen (for the private-sector impact). This estimate was approved 

by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT

The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office 

pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. 

Æ 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with HEARING