II 

Calendar No. 125 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 493 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 26, 2007 

Received and read the first time 

APRIL 30, 2007 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

AN ACT 

To prohibit discrimination on the basis of genetic information 

with respect to health insurance and employment. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

TITLE I—GENETIC NONDISCRIMINATION IN HEALTH INSURANCE 

Sec. 101. Amendments to Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. 

Sec. 102. Amendments to the Public Health Service Act. 

Sec. 103. Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

Sec. 104. Amendments to title XVIII of the Social Security Act relating to 

medigap. 

Sec. 105. Privacy and confidentiality. 

Sec. 106. Assuring coordination. 

TITLE II—PROHIBITING EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION ON THE 

BASIS OF GENETIC INFORMATION 

Sec. 201. Definitions. 

Sec. 202. Employer practices. 

Sec. 203. Employment agency practices. 

Sec. 204. Labor organization practices. 

Sec. 205. Training programs. 

Sec. 206. Confidentiality of genetic information. 

Sec. 207. Remedies and enforcement. 

Sec. 208. Disparate impact. 

Sec. 209. Construction. 

Sec. 210. Medical information that is not genetic information. 

Sec. 211. Regulations. 

Sec. 212. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 213. Effective date. 

TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

Sec. 301. Guarantee agency collection retention. 

Sec. 302. Severability. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Deciphering the sequence of the human ge9 nome and other advances in genetics open major 

10 new opportunities for medical progress. New knowlVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:19 May 01, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H493.PCS H493

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1 edge about the genetic basis of illness will allow for 

2 earlier detection of illnesses, often before symptoms 

3 have begun. Genetic testing can allow individuals to 

4 take steps to reduce the likelihood that they will con5 tract a particular disorder. New knowledge about ge6 netics may allow for the development of better thera7 pies that are more effective against disease or have 

8 fewer side effects than current treatments. These 

9 advances give rise to the potential misuse of genetic 

10 information to discriminate in health insurance and 

11 employment. 

12 (2) The early science of genetics became the 

13 basis of State laws that provided for the sterilization 

14 of persons having presumed genetic ‘‘defects’’ such 

15 as mental retardation, mental disease, epilepsy, 

16 blindness, and hearing loss, among other conditions. 

17 The first sterilization law was enacted in the State 

18 of Indiana in 1907. By 1981, a majority of States 

19 adopted sterilization laws to ‘‘correct’’ apparent ge20 netic traits or tendencies. Many of these State laws 

21 have since been repealed, and many have been modi22 fied to include essential constitutional requirements 

23 of due process and equal protection. However, the 

24 current explosion in the science of genetics, and the 

25 history of sterilization laws by the States based on 


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1 early genetic science, compels Congressional action 

2 in this area. 

3 (3) Although genes are facially neutral markers, 

4 many genetic conditions and disorders are associated 

5 with particular racial and ethnic groups and gender. 

6 Because some genetic traits are most prevalent in 

7 particular groups, members of a particular group 

8 may be stigmatized or discriminated against as a re9 sult of that genetic information. This form of dis10 crimination was evident in the 1970s, which saw the 

11 advent of programs to screen and identify carriers of 

12 sickle cell anemia, a disease which afflicts African13 Americans. Once again, State legislatures began to 

14 enact discriminatory laws in the area, and in the 

15 early 1970s began mandating genetic screening of 

16 all African Americans for sickle cell anemia, leading 

17 to discrimination and unnecessary fear. To alleviate 

18 some of this stigma, Congress in 1972 passed the 

19 National Sickle Cell Anemia Control Act, which 

20 withholds Federal funding from States unless sickle 

21 cell testing is voluntary. 

22 (4) Congress has been informed of examples of 

23 genetic discrimination in the workplace. These in24 clude the use of pre-employment genetic screening at 

25 Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, which led to a court 


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1 decision in favor of the employees in that case Nor2 man-Bloodsaw v. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory 

3 (135 F.3d 1260, 1269 (9th Cir. 1998)). Congress 

4 clearly has a compelling public interest in relieving 

5 the fear of discrimination and in prohibiting its ac6 tual practice in employment and health insurance. 

7 (5) Federal law addressing genetic discrimina8 tion in health insurance and employment is incom9 plete in both the scope and depth of its protections. 

10 Moreover, while many States have enacted some type 

11 of genetic non-discrimination law, these laws vary 

12 widely with respect to their approach, application, 

13 and level of protection. Congress has collected sub14 stantial evidence that the American public and the 

15 medical community find the existing patchwork of 

16 State and Federal laws to be confusing and inad17 equate to protect them from discrimination. There18 fore Federal legislation establishing a national and 

19 uniform basic standard is necessary to fully protect 

20 the public from discrimination and allay their con21 cerns about the potential for discrimination, thereby 

22 allowing individuals to take advantage of genetic 

23 testing, technologies, research, and new therapies. 


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1 TITLE I—GENETIC NON2 DISCRIMINATION IN HEALTH 

3 INSURANCE 

4 SEC. 101. AMENDMENTS TO EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT IN5 COME SECURITY ACT OF 1974. 

6 (a) NO DISCRIMINATION IN GROUP PREMIUMS

7 BASED ON GENETIC INFORMATION.—Section 702(b) of 

8 the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 

9 (29 U.S.C. 1182(b)) is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting before the 

11 semicolon the following: ‘‘except as provided in para12 graph (3)’’; and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(3) NO GROUP-BASED DISCRIMINATION ON

15 BASIS OF GENETIC INFORMATION.—For purposes of 

16 this section, a group health plan, and a health insur17 ance issuer offering group health insurance coverage 

18 in connection with a group health plan, may not ad19 just premium or contribution amounts for the group 

20 covered under such plan on the basis of genetic in21 formation.’’. 

22 (b) LIMITATIONS ON GENETIC TESTING; PROHIBI23 TION ON COLLECTION OF GENETIC INFORMATION; APPLI24 CATION TO ALL PLANS.—Section 702 of the Employee 


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1 Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1182) 

2 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(c) GENETIC TESTING.— 

4 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION ON REQUESTING OR REQUIR5 ING GENETIC TESTING.—A group health plan, and a 

6 health insurance issuer offering health insurance 

7 coverage in connection with a group health plan, 

8 shall not request or require an individual or a family 

9 member of such individual to undergo a genetic test. 

10 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Paragraph (1) 

11 shall not be construed to limit the authority of a 

12 health care professional who is providing health care 

13 services to an individual to request that such indi14 vidual undergo a genetic test. 

15 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING PAY16 MENT.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in paragraph 

18 (1) shall be construed to preclude a group 

19 health plan, or a health insurance issuer offer20 ing health insurance coverage in connection 

21 with a group health plan, from obtaining and 

22 using the results of a genetic test in making a 

23 determination regarding payment (as such term 

24 is defined for the purposes of applying the regu25 lations promulgated by the Secretary of Health 


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1 and Human Services under part C of title XI 

2 of the Social Security Act and section 264 of 

3 the Health Insurance Portability and Account4 ability Act of 1996, as may be revised from 

5 time to time) consistent with subsection (a). 

6 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—For purposes of sub7 paragraph (A), a group health plan, or a health 

8 insurance issuer offering health insurance cov9 erage in connection with a group health plan, 

10 may request only the minimum amount of in11 formation necessary to accomplish the intended 

12 purpose. 

13 ‘‘(4) RESEARCH EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding 

14 paragraph (1), a group health plan, or a health in15 surance issuer offering health insurance coverage in 

16 connection with a group health plan, may request, 

17 but not require, that a participant or beneficiary un18 dergo a genetic test if each of the following condi19 tions is met: 

20 ‘‘(A) The request is made, in writing, pur21 suant to research that complies with part 46 of 

22 title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, or equiv23 alent Federal regulations, and any applicable 

24 State or local law or regulations for the protec25 tion of human subjects in research. 


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1 ‘‘(B) The plan or issuer clearly indicates to 

2 each participant or beneficiary, or in the case of 

3 a minor child, to the legal guardian of such 

4 beneficiary, to whom the request is made that— 

5 ‘‘(i) compliance with the request is 

6 voluntary; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) non-compliance will have no ef8 fect on enrollment status or premium or 

9 contribution amounts. 

10 ‘‘(C) No genetic information collected or 

11 acquired under this paragraph shall be used for 

12 underwriting purposes. 

13 ‘‘(D) The plan or issuer notifies the Sec14 retary in writing that the plan or issuer is con15 ducting activities pursuant to the exception pro16 vided for under this paragraph, including a de17 scription of the activities conducted. 

18 ‘‘(E) The plan or issuer complies with such 

19 other conditions as the Secretary may by regu20 lation require for activities conducted under this 

21 paragraph. 

22 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITION ON COLLECTION OF GENETIC IN23 FORMATION.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A group health plan, and a 

25 health insurance issuer offering health insurance 


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1 coverage in connection with a group health plan, 

2 shall not request, require, or purchase genetic infor3 mation for underwriting purposes (as defined in sec4 tion 733). 

5 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON COLLECTION OF GE6 NETIC INFORMATION PRIOR TO ENROLLMENT.—A 

7 group health plan, and a health insurance issuer of8 fering health insurance coverage in connection with 

9 a group health plan, shall not request, require, or 

10 purchase genetic information with respect to any in11 dividual prior to such individual’s enrollment under 

12 the plan or coverage in connection with such enroll13 ment. 

14 ‘‘(3) INCIDENTAL COLLECTION.—If a group 

15 health plan, or a health insurance issuer offering 

16 health insurance coverage in connection with a group 

17 health plan, obtains genetic information incidental to 

18 the requesting, requiring, or purchasing of other in19 formation concerning any individual, such request, 

20 requirement, or purchase shall not be considered a 

21 violation of paragraph (2) if such request, require22 ment, or purchase is not in violation of paragraph 

23 (1). 

24 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION TO ALL PLANS.—The provisions 

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1 section (b)(1) and section 701 with respect to genetic in2 formation, shall apply to group health plans and health 

3 insurance issuers without regard to section 732(a).’’. 

4 (c) APPLICATION TO GENETIC INFORMATION OF A

5 FETUS OR EMBRYO.—Such section is further amended by 

6 adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(f) GENETIC INFORMATION OF A FETUS OR EM8 BRYO.—Any reference in this part to genetic information 

9 concerning an individual or family member of an indi10 vidual shall— 

11 ‘‘(1) with respect to such an individual or fam12 ily member of an individual who is a pregnant 

13 woman, include genetic information of any fetus car14 ried by such pregnant woman; and 

15 ‘‘(2) with respect to an individual or family 

16 member utilizing an assisted reproductive tech17 nology, include genetic information of any embryo le18 gally held by the individual or family member.’’. 

19 (d) DEFINITIONS.—Section 733(d) of the Employee 

20 Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 

21 1191b(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(5) FAMILY MEMBER.—The term ‘family 

23 member’ means, with respect to an individual— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a dependent (as such term is used for 

2 purposes of section 701(f)(2)) of such indi3 vidual, and 

4 ‘‘(B) any other individual who is a first-de5 gree, second-degree, third-degree, or fourth-de6 gree relative of such individual or of an indi7 vidual described in subparagraph (A). 

8 ‘‘(6) GENETIC INFORMATION.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘genetic in10 formation’ means, with respect to any indi11 vidual, information about— 

12 ‘‘(i) such individual’s genetic tests, 

13 ‘‘(ii) the genetic tests of family mem14 bers of such individual, and 

15 ‘‘(iii) subject to subparagraph (D), 

16 the manifestation of a disease or disorder 

17 in family members of such individual. 

18 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION OF GENETIC SERVICES.— 

19 Such term includes, with respect to any indi20 vidual, any request for, or receipt of, genetic 

21 services (including genetic services received pur22 suant to participation in clinical research) by 

23 such individual or any family member of such 

24 individual. 


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1 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘genetic in2 formation’ shall not include information about 

3 the sex or age of any individual. 

4 ‘‘(D) APPLICATION TO FAMILY MEMBERS

5 COVERED UNDER SAME PLAN.—Information de6 scribed in clause (iii) of subparagraph (A) shall 

7 not be treated as genetic information to the ex8 tent that such information is taken into account 

9 only with respect to the individual in which 

10 such disease or disorder is manifested and not 

11 as genetic information with respect to any other 

12 individual. 

13 ‘‘(7) GENETIC TEST.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘genetic 

15 test’ means an analysis of human DNA, RNA, 

16 chromosomes, proteins, or metabolites, that de17 tects genotypes, mutations, or chromosomal 

18 changes. 

19 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘genetic 

20 test’ does not mean— 

21 ‘‘(i) an analysis of proteins or metabo22 lites that does not detect genotypes, 

23 mutations, or chromosomal changes; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) an analysis of proteins or me25 tabolites that is directly related to a maniVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:19 May 01, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H493.PCS H493

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1 fested disease, disorder, or pathological 

2 condition that could reasonably be detected 

3 by a health care professional with appro4 priate training and expertise in the field of 

5 medicine involved. 

6 ‘‘(8) GENETIC SERVICES.—The term ‘genetic 

7 services’ means— 

8 ‘‘(A) a genetic test; 

9 ‘‘(B) genetic counseling (including obtain10 ing, interpreting, or assessing genetic informa11 tion); or 

12 ‘‘(C) genetic education. 

13 ‘‘(9) UNDERWRITING PURPOSES.—The term 

14 ‘underwriting purposes’ means, with respect to any 

15 group health plan, or health insurance coverage of16 fered in connection with a group health plan— 

17 ‘‘(A) rules for, or determination of, eligi18 bility (including enrollment and continued eligi19 bility) for benefits under the plan or coverage; 

20 ‘‘(B) the computation of premium or con21 tribution amounts under the plan or coverage; 

22 ‘‘(C) the application of any pre-existing 

23 condition exclusion under the plan or coverage; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(D) other activities related to the cre2 ation, renewal, or replacement of a contract of 

3 health insurance or health benefits.’’. 

4 (e) ERISA ENFORCEMENT.—Section 502 of the Em5 ployee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 

6 U.S.C. 1132) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)(6), by striking ‘‘(7), or 

8 (8)’’ and inserting ‘‘(7), (8), or (9)’’; and 

9 (2) in subsection (c), by redesignating para10 graph (9) as paragraph (10), and by inserting after 

11 paragraph (8) the following new paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(9) SECRETARIAL ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY

13 RELATING TO USE OF GENETIC INFORMATION.— 

14 ‘‘(A) GENERAL RULE.—The Secretary may 

15 impose a penalty against any plan sponsor of a 

16 group health plan, or any health insurance 

17 issuer offering health insurance coverage in 

18 connection with the plan, for any failure by 

19 such sponsor or issuer to meet the requirements 

20 of subsection (a)(1)(F), (b)(3), (c), or (d) of 

21 section 702 or section 701 or 702(b)(1) with re22 spect to genetic information, in connection with 

23 the plan. 

24 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The amount of 

2 the penalty imposed by subparagraph (A) 

3 shall be $100 for each day in the non4 compliance period with respect to each par5 ticipant or beneficiary to whom such fail6 ure relates. 

7 ‘‘(ii) NONCOMPLIANCE PERIOD.—For 

8 purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘non9 compliance period’ means, with respect to 

10 any failure, the period— 

11 ‘‘(I) beginning on the date such 

12 failure first occurs; and 

13 ‘‘(II) ending on the date the fail14 ure is corrected. 

15 ‘‘(C) MINIMUM PENALTIES WHERE FAIL16 URE DISCOVERED.—Notwithstanding clauses (i) 

17 and (ii) of subparagraph (D): 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of 1 or 

19 more failures with respect to a participant 

20 or beneficiary— 

21 ‘‘(I) which are not corrected be22 fore the date on which the plan re23 ceives a notice from the Secretary of 

24 such violation; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) which occurred or continued 

2 during the period involved; 

3 the amount of penalty imposed by subpara4 graph (A) by reason of such failures with 

5 respect to such participant or beneficiary 

6 shall not be less than $2,500. 

7 ‘‘(ii) HIGHER MINIMUM PENALTY

8 WHERE VIOLATIONS ARE MORE THAN DE

9 MINIMIS.—To the extent violations for 

10 which any person is liable under this para11 graph for any year are more than de mini12 mis, clause (i) shall be applied by sub13 stituting ‘$15,000’ for ‘$2,500’ with re14 spect to such person. 

15 ‘‘(D) LIMITATIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(i) PENALTY NOT TO APPLY WHERE

17 FAILURE NOT DISCOVERED EXERCISING

18 REASONABLE DILIGENCE.—No penalty 

19 shall be imposed by subparagraph (A) on 

20 any failure during any period for which it 

21 is established to the satisfaction of the 

22 Secretary that the person otherwise liable 

23 for such penalty did not know, and exer24 cising reasonable diligence would not have 

25 known, that such failure existed. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) PENALTY NOT TO APPLY TO

2 FAILURES CORRECTED WITHIN CERTAIN

3 PERIODS.—No penalty shall be imposed by 

4 subparagraph (A) on any failure if— 

5 ‘‘(I) such failure was due to rea6 sonable cause and not to willful ne7 glect; and 

8 ‘‘(II) such failure is corrected 

9 during the 30-day period beginning on 

10 the first date the person otherwise lia11 ble for such penalty knew, or exer12 cising reasonable diligence would have 

13 known, that such failure existed. 

14 ‘‘(iii) OVERALL LIMITATION FOR UN15 INTENTIONAL FAILURES.—In the case of 

16 failures which are due to reasonable cause 

17 and not to willful neglect, the penalty im18 posed by subparagraph (A) for failures 

19 shall not exceed the amount equal to the 

20 lesser of— 

21 ‘‘(I) 10 percent of the aggregate 

22 amount paid or incurred by the plan 

23 sponsor (or predecessor plan sponsor) 

24 during the preceding taxable year for 

25 group health plans; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) $500,000. 

2 ‘‘(E) WAIVER BY SECRETARY.—In the case 

3 of a failure which is due to reasonable cause 

4 and not to willful neglect, the Secretary may 

5 waive part or all of the penalty imposed by sub6 paragraph (A) to the extent that the payment 

7 of such penalty would be excessive relative to 

8 the failure involved. 

9 ‘‘(F) DEFINITIONS.—Terms used in this 

10 paragraph which are defined in section 733 

11 shall have the meanings provided such terms in 

12 such section.’’. 

13 (f) REGULATIONS AND EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

14 (1) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Labor 

15 shall issue final regulations not later than 1 year 

16 after the date of enactment of this Act to carry out 

17 the amendments made by this section. 

18 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

19 by this section shall apply with respect to group 

20 health plans for plan years beginning after the date 

21 that is 18 months after the date of enactment of 

22 this Act. 


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1 SEC. 102. AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE 

2 ACT. 

3 (a) AMENDMENTS RELATING TO THE GROUP MAR4 KET.— 

5 (1) NO DISCRIMINATION IN GROUP PREMIUMS

6 BASED ON GENETIC INFORMATION.—Section 

7 2702(b) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 300gg–1(b)) is amended— 

9 (A) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting be10 fore the semicolon the following: ‘‘except as pro11 vided in paragraph (3)’’; and 

12 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(3) NO GROUP-BASED DISCRIMINATION ON

14 BASIS OF GENETIC INFORMATION.—For purposes of 

15 this section, a group health plan, and health insur16 ance issuer offering group health insurance coverage 

17 in connection with a group health plan, may not ad18 just premium or contribution amounts for the group 

19 covered under such plan on the basis of genetic in20 formation.’’. 

21 (2) LIMITATIONS ON GENETIC TESTING; PROHI22 BITION ON COLLECTION OF GENETIC INFORMATION; 

23 APPLICATION TO ALL PLANS.—Section 2702 of the 

24 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–1) is 

25 amended by adding at the end the following: 

26 ‘‘(c) GENETIC TESTING.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION ON REQUESTING OR REQUIR2 ING GENETIC TESTING.—A group health plan, and a 

3 health insurance issuer offering health insurance 

4 coverage in connection with a group health plan, 

5 shall not request or require an individual or a family 

6 member of such individual to undergo a genetic test. 

7 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Paragraph (1) 

8 shall not be construed to limit the authority of a 

9 health care professional who is providing health care 

10 services to an individual to request that such indi11 vidual undergo a genetic test. 

12 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING PAY13 MENT.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in paragraph 

15 (1) shall be construed to preclude a group 

16 health plan, or a health insurance issuer offer17 ing health insurance coverage in connection 

18 with a group health plan, from obtaining and 

19 using the results of a genetic test in making a 

20 determination regarding payment (as such term 

21 is defined for the purposes of applying the regu22 lations promulgated by the Secretary under 

23 part C of title XI of the Social Security Act and 

24 section 264 of the Health Insurance Portability 

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1 vised from time to time) consistent with sub2 section (a). 

3 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—For purposes of sub4 paragraph (A), a group health plan, or a health 

5 insurance issuer offering health insurance cov6 erage in connection with a group health plan, 

7 may request only the minimum amount of in8 formation necessary to accomplish the intended 

9 purpose. 

10 ‘‘(4) RESEARCH EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding 

11 paragraph (1), a group health plan, or a health in12 surance issuer offering health insurance coverage in 

13 connection with a group health plan, may request, 

14 but not require, that a participant or beneficiary un15 dergo a genetic test if each of the following condi16 tions is met: 

17 ‘‘(A) The request is made pursuant to re18 search that complies with part 46 of title 45, 

19 Code of Federal Regulations, or equivalent Fed20 eral regulations, and any applicable State or 

21 local law or regulations for the protection of 

22 human subjects in research. 

23 ‘‘(B) The plan or issuer clearly indicates to 

24 each participant or beneficiary, or in the case of 


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1 a minor child, to the legal guardian of such 

2 beneficiary, to whom the request is made that— 

3 ‘‘(i) compliance with the request is 

4 voluntary; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) non-compliance will have no ef6 fect on enrollment status or premium or 

7 contribution amounts. 

8 ‘‘(C) No genetic information collected or 

9 acquired under this paragraph shall be used for 

10 underwriting purposes. 

11 ‘‘(D) The plan or issuer notifies the Sec12 retary in writing that the plan or issuer is con13 ducting activities pursuant to the exception pro14 vided for under this paragraph, including a de15 scription of the activities conducted. 

16 ‘‘(E) The plan or issuer complies with such 

17 other conditions as the Secretary may by regu18 lation require for activities conducted under this 

19 paragraph. 

20 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITION ON COLLECTION OF GENETIC IN21 FORMATION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A group health plan, and a 

23 health insurance issuer offering health insurance 

24 coverage in connection with a group health plan, 

25 shall not request, require, or purchase genetic inforVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:19 May 01, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H493.PCS H493

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1 mation for underwriting purposes (as defined in sec2 tion 2791). 

3 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON COLLECTION OF GE4 NETIC INFORMATION PRIOR TO ENROLLMENT.—A 

5 group health plan, and a health insurance issuer of6 fering health insurance coverage in connection with 

7 a group health plan, shall not request, require, or 

8 purchase genetic information with respect to any in9 dividual prior to such individual’s enrollment under 

10 the plan or coverage in connection with such enroll11 ment. 

12 ‘‘(3) INCIDENTAL COLLECTION.—If a group 

13 health plan, or a health insurance issuer offering 

14 health insurance coverage in connection with a group 

15 health plan, obtains genetic information incidental to 

16 the requesting, requiring, or purchasing of other in17 formation concerning any individual, such request, 

18 requirement, or purchase shall not be considered a 

19 violation of paragraph (2) if such request, require20 ment, or purchase is not in violation of paragraph 

21 (1). 

22 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION TO ALL PLANS.—The provisions 

23 of subsections (a)(1)(F), (b)(3), (c) , and (d) and sub24 section (b)(1) and section 2701 with respect to genetic inVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:19 May 01, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H493.PCS H493

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1 formation, shall apply to group health plans and health 

2 insurance issuers without regard to section 2721(a).’’. 

3 (3) APPLICATION TO GENETIC INFORMATION OF

4 A FETUS OR EMBRYO.—Such section is further 

5 amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(f) GENETIC INFORMATION OF A FETUS OR EM7 BRYO.—Any reference in this part to genetic information 

8 concerning an individual or family member of an indi9 vidual shall— 

10 ‘‘(1) with respect to such an individual or fam11 ily member of an individual who is a pregnant 

12 woman, include genetic information of any fetus car13 ried by such pregnant woman; and 

14 ‘‘(2) with respect to an individual or family 

15 member utilizing an assisted reproductive tech16 nology, include genetic information of any embryo le17 gally held by the individual or family member.’’. 

18 (4) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2791(d) of the Pub19 lic Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–91(d)) is 

20 amended by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(15) FAMILY MEMBER.—The term ‘family 

22 member’ means, with respect to any individual— 

23 ‘‘(A) a dependent (as such term is used for 

24 purposes of section 2701(f)(2)) of such indi25 vidual; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) any other individual who is a first-de2 gree, second-degree, third-degree, or fourth-de3 gree relative of such individual or of an indi4 vidual described in subparagraph (A). 

5 ‘‘(16) GENETIC INFORMATION.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘genetic in7 formation’ means, with respect to any indi8 vidual, information about— 

9 ‘‘(i) such individual’s genetic tests, 

10 ‘‘(ii) the genetic tests of family mem11 bers of such individual, and 

12 ‘‘(iii) subject to subparagraph (D), 

13 the manifestation of a disease or disorder 

14 in family members of such individual. 

15 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION OF GENETIC SERVICES.— 

16 Such term includes, with respect to any indi17 vidual, any request for, or receipt of, genetic 

18 services (including genetic services received pur19 suant to participation in clinical research) by 

20 such individual or any family member of such 

21 individual. 

22 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘genetic in23 formation’ shall not include information about 

24 the sex or age of any individual. 


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1 ‘‘(D) APPLICATION TO FAMILY MEMBERS

2 COVERED UNDER SAME PLAN.—Information de3 scribed in clause (iii) of subparagraph (A) shall 

4 not be treated as genetic information to the ex5 tent that such information is taken into account 

6 only with respect to the individual in which 

7 such disease or disorder is manifested and not 

8 as genetic information with respect to any other 

9 individual. 

10 ‘‘(17) GENETIC TEST.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘genetic 

12 test’ means an analysis of human DNA, RNA, 

13 chromosomes, proteins, or metabolites, that de14 tects genotypes, mutations, or chromosomal 

15 changes. 

16 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘genetic 

17 test’ does not mean— 

18 ‘‘(i) an analysis of proteins or metabo19 lites that does not detect genotypes, 

20 mutations, or chromosomal changes; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) an analysis of proteins or me22 tabolites that is directly related to a mani23 fested disease, disorder, or pathological 

24 condition that could reasonably be detected 

25 by a health care professional with approVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:19 May 01, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H493.PCS H493

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1 priate training and expertise in the field of 

2 medicine involved. 

3 ‘‘(18) GENETIC SERVICES.—The term ‘genetic 

4 services’ means— 

5 ‘‘(A) a genetic test; 

6 ‘‘(B) genetic counseling (including obtain7 ing, interpreting, or assessing genetic informa8 tion); or 

9 ‘‘(C) genetic education. 

10 ‘‘(19) UNDERWRITING PURPOSES.—The term 

11 ‘underwriting purposes’ means, with respect to any 

12 group health plan, or health insurance coverage of13 fered in connection with a group health plan— 

14 ‘‘(A) rules for, or determination of, eligi15 bility (including enrollment and continued eligi16 bility) for benefits under the plan or coverage; 

17 ‘‘(B) the computation of premium or con18 tribution amounts under the plan or coverage; 

19 ‘‘(C) the application of any pre-existing 

20 condition exclusion under the plan or coverage; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(D) other activities related to the cre23 ation, renewal, or replacement of a contract of 

24 health insurance or health benefits.’’. 


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1 (5) REMEDIES AND ENFORCEMENT.—Section 

2 2722(b) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 300gg–22(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(3) ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY RELATING TO

6 GENETIC DISCRIMINATION.— 

7 ‘‘(A) GENERAL RULE.—In the cases de8 scribed in paragraph (1), notwithstanding the 

9 provisions of paragraph (2)(C), the succeeding 

10 subparagraphs of this paragraph shall apply 

11 with respect to an action under this subsection 

12 by the Secretary with respect to any failure of 

13 a health insurance issuer in connection with a 

14 group health plan, to meet the requirements of 

15 subsection (a)(1)(F), (b)(3), (c), or (d) of sec16 tion 2702 or section 2701 or 2702(b)(1) with 

17 respect to genetic information in connection 

18 with the plan. 

19 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The amount of 

21 the penalty imposed under this paragraph 

22 shall be $100 for each day in the non23 compliance period with respect to each par24 ticipant or beneficiary to whom such fail25 ure relates. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) NONCOMPLIANCE PERIOD.—For 

2 purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘non3 compliance period’ means, with respect to 

4 any failure, the period— 

5 ‘‘(I) beginning on the date such 

6 failure first occurs; and 

7 ‘‘(II) ending on the date the fail8 ure is corrected. 

9 ‘‘(C) MINIMUM PENALTIES WHERE FAIL10 URE DISCOVERED.—Notwithstanding clauses (i) 

11 and (ii) of subparagraph (D): 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of 1 or 

13 more failures with respect to an indi14 vidual— 

15 ‘‘(I) which are not corrected be16 fore the date on which the plan re17 ceives a notice from the Secretary of 

18 such violation; and 

19 ‘‘(II) which occurred or continued 

20 during the period involved; 

21 the amount of penalty imposed by subpara22 graph (A) by reason of such failures with 

23 respect to such individual shall not be less 

24 than $2,500. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) HIGHER MINIMUM PENALTY

2 WHERE VIOLATIONS ARE MORE THAN DE

3 MINIMIS.—To the extent violations for 

4 which any person is liable under this para5 graph for any year are more than de mini6 mis, clause (i) shall be applied by sub7 stituting ‘$15,000’ for ‘$2,500’ with re8 spect to such person. 

9 ‘‘(D) LIMITATIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(i) PENALTY NOT TO APPLY WHERE

11 FAILURE NOT DISCOVERED EXERCISING

12 REASONABLE DILIGENCE.—No penalty 

13 shall be imposed by subparagraph (A) on 

14 any failure during any period for which it 

15 is established to the satisfaction of the 

16 Secretary that the person otherwise liable 

17 for such penalty did not know, and exer18 cising reasonable diligence would not have 

19 known, that such failure existed. 

20 ‘‘(ii) PENALTY NOT TO APPLY TO

21 FAILURES CORRECTED WITHIN CERTAIN

22 PERIODS.—No penalty shall be imposed by 

23 subparagraph (A) on any failure if— 


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1 ‘‘(I) such failure was due to rea2 sonable cause and not to willful ne3 glect; and 

4 ‘‘(II) such failure is corrected 

5 during the 30-day period beginning on 

6 the first date the person otherwise lia7 ble for such penalty knew, or exer8 cising reasonable diligence would have 

9 known, that such failure existed. 

10 ‘‘(iii) OVERALL LIMITATION FOR UN11 INTENTIONAL FAILURES.—In the case of 

12 failures which are due to reasonable cause 

13 and not to willful neglect, the penalty im14 posed by subparagraph (A) for failures 

15 shall not exceed the amount equal to the 

16 lesser of— 

17 ‘‘(I) 10 percent of the aggregate 

18 amount paid or incurred by the em19 ployer (or predecessor employer) dur20 ing the preceding taxable year for 

21 group health plans; or 

22 ‘‘(II) $500,000. 

23 ‘‘(E) WAIVER BY SECRETARY.—In the case 

24 of a failure which is due to reasonable cause 

25 and not to willful neglect, the Secretary may 


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HR 493 PCS

1 waive part or all of the penalty imposed by sub2 paragraph (A) to the extent that the payment 

3 of such penalty would be excessive relative to 

4 the failure involved.’’. 

5 (b) AMENDMENT RELATING TO THE INDIVIDUAL

6 MARKET.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The first subpart 3 of part 

8 B of title XXVII of the Public Health Service Act 

9 (42 U.S.C. 300gg–51 et seq.) (relating to other re10 quirements) is amended— 

11 (A) by redesignating such subpart as sub12 part 2; and 

13 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 2753. PROHIBITION OF HEALTH DISCRIMINATION ON 

15 THE BASIS OF GENETIC INFORMATION. 

16 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION ON GENETIC INFORMATION AS A

17 CONDITION OF ELIGIBILITY.—A health insurance issuer 

18 offering health insurance coverage in the individual mar19 ket may not establish rules for the eligibility (including 

20 continued eligibility) of any individual to enroll in indi21 vidual health insurance coverage based on genetic infor22 mation. 

23 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON GENETIC INFORMATION IN

24 SETTING PREMIUM RATES.—A health insurance issuer of25 fering health insurance coverage in the individual market 


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1 shall not adjust premium or contribution amounts for an 

2 individual on the basis of genetic information concerning 

3 the individual or a family member of the individual. 

4 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION ON GENETIC INFORMATION AS

5 PREEXISTING CONDITION.—A health insurance issuer of6 fering health insurance coverage in the individual market 

7 may not, on the basis of genetic information, impose any 

8 preexisting condition exclusion (as defined in section 

9 2701(b)(1)(A)) with respect to such coverage. 

10 ‘‘(d) GENETIC TESTING.— 

11 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION ON REQUESTING OR REQUIR12 ING GENETIC TESTING.—A health insurance issuer 

13 offering health insurance coverage in the individual 

14 market shall not request or require an individual or 

15 a family member of such individual to undergo a ge16 netic test. 

17 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Paragraph (1) 

18 shall not be construed to limit the authority of a 

19 health care professional who is providing health care 

20 services to an individual to request that such indi21 vidual undergo a genetic test. 

22 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING PAY23 MENT.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in paragraph 

25 (1) shall be construed to preclude a health inVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:19 May 01, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H493.PCS H493

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1 surance issuer offering health insurance cov2 erage in the individual market from obtaining 

3 and using the results of a genetic test in mak4 ing a determination regarding payment (as such 

5 term is defined for the purposes of applying the 

6 regulations promulgated by the Secretary under 

7 part C of title XI of the Social Security Act and 

8 section 264 of the Health Insurance Portability 

9 and Accountability Act of 1996, as may be re10 vised from time to time) consistent with sub11 section (a) and (c). 

12 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—For purposes of sub13 paragraph (A), a health insurance issuer offer14 ing health insurance coverage in the individual 

15 market may request only the minimum amount 

16 of information necessary to accomplish the in17 tended purpose. 

18 ‘‘(4) RESEARCH EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding 

19 paragraph (1), a health insurance issuer offering 

20 health insurance coverage in the individual market 

21 may request, but not require, that an individual or 

22 a family member of such individual undergo a ge23 netic test if each of the following conditions is met: 

24 ‘‘(A) The request is made pursuant to re25 search that complies with part 46 of title 45, 


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HR 493 PCS

1 Code of Federal Regulations, or equivalent Fed2 eral regulations, and any applicable State or 

3 local law or regulations for the protection of 

4 human subjects in research. 

5 ‘‘(B) The issuer clearly indicates to each 

6 individual, or in the case of a minor child, to 

7 the legal guardian of such child, to whom the 

8 request is made that— 

9 ‘‘(i) compliance with the request is 

10 voluntary; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) non-compliance will have no ef12 fect on enrollment status or premium or 

13 contribution amounts. 

14 ‘‘(C) No genetic information collected or 

15 acquired under this paragraph shall be used for 

16 underwriting purposes. 

17 ‘‘(D) The issuer notifies the Secretary in 

18 writing that the issuer is conducting activities 

19 pursuant to the exception provided for under 

20 this paragraph, including a description of the 

21 activities conducted. 

22 ‘‘(E) The issuer complies with such other 

23 conditions as the Secretary may by regulation 

24 require for activities conducted under this para25 graph. 


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1 ‘‘(e) PROHIBITION ON COLLECTION OF GENETIC IN2 FORMATION.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A health insurance issuer 

4 offering health insurance coverage in the individual 

5 market shall not request, require, or purchase ge6 netic information for underwriting purposes (as de7 fined in section 2791). 

8 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON COLLECTION OF GE9 NETIC INFORMATION PRIOR TO ENROLLMENT.—A 

10 health insurance issuer offering health insurance 

11 coverage in the individual market shall not request, 

12 require, or purchase genetic information with respect 

13 to any individual prior to such individual’s enroll14 ment under the plan in connection with such enroll15 ment. 

16 ‘‘(3) INCIDENTAL COLLECTION.—If a health in17 surance issuer offering health insurance coverage in 

18 the individual market obtains genetic information in19 cidental to the requesting, requiring, or purchasing 

20 of other information concerning any individual, such 

21 request, requirement, or purchase shall not be con22 sidered a violation of paragraph (2) if such request, 

23 requirement, or purchase is not in violation of para24 graph (1). 


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1 ‘‘(f) GENETIC INFORMATION OF A FETUS OR EM2 BRYO.—Any reference in this part to genetic information 

3 concerning an individual or family member of an indi4 vidual shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) with respect to such an individual or fam6 ily member of an individual who is a pregnant 

7 woman, include genetic information of any fetus car8 ried by such pregnant woman; and 

9 ‘‘(2) with respect to an individual or family 

10 member utilizing an assisted reproductive tech11 nology, include genetic information of any embryo le12 gally held by the individual or family member.’’. 

13 (2) REMEDIES AND ENFORCEMENT.—Section 

14 2761(b) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 300gg–61(b)) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(b) SECRETARIAL ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY.— 

17 The Secretary shall have the same authority in relation 

18 to enforcement of the provisions of this part with respect 

19 to issuers of health insurance coverage in the individual 

20 market in a State as the Secretary has under section 

21 2722(b)(2), and section 2722(b)(3) with respect to viola22 tions of genetic nondiscrimination provisions, in relation 

23 to the enforcement of the provisions of part A with respect 

24 to issuers of health insurance coverage in the small group 

25 market in the State.’’. 


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HR 493 PCS

1 (c) ELIMINATION OF OPTION OF NON-FEDERAL

2 GOVERNMENTAL PLANS TO BE EXCEPTED FROM RE3 QUIREMENTS CONCERNING GENETIC INFORMATION.— 

4 Section 2721(b)(2) of the Public Health Service Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 300gg–21(b)(2)) is amended— 

6 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘If the 

7 plan sponsor’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 

8 subparagraph (D), if the plan sponsor’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(D) ELECTION NOT APPLICABLE TO RE11 QUIREMENTS CONCERNING GENETIC INFORMA12 TION.—The election described in subparagraph 

13 (A) shall not be available with respect to the 

14 provisions of subsections (a)(1)(F), (b)(3), (c), 

15 and (d) of section 2702 and the provisions of 

16 sections 2701 and 2702(b) to the extent that 

17 such provisions apply to genetic information.’’. 

18 (d) REGULATIONS AND EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

19 (1) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after 

20 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

21 Health and Human Services shall issue final regula22 tions to carry out the amendments made by this sec23 tion. 

24 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

25 by this section shall apply— 


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HR 493 PCS

1 (A) with respect to group health plans, and 

2 health insurance coverage offered in connection 

3 with group health plans, for plan years begin4 ning after the date that is 18 months after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act; and 

6 (B) with respect to health insurance cov7 erage offered, sold, issued, renewed, in effect, or 

8 operated in the individual market after the date 

9 that is 18 months after the date of enactment 

10 of this Act. 

11 SEC. 103. AMENDMENTS TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE 

12 OF 1986. 

13 (a) NO DISCRIMINATION IN GROUP PREMIUMS

14 BASED ON GENETIC INFORMATION.—Subsection (b) of 

15 section 9802 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting before the 

18 semicolon the following: ‘‘except as provided in para19 graph (3)’’; and 

20 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(3) NO GROUP-BASED DISCRIMINATION ON

22 BASIS OF GENETIC INFORMATION.—For purposes of 

23 this section, a group health plan may not adjust pre24 mium or contribution amounts for the group covered 


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HR 493 PCS

1 under such plan on the basis of genetic informa2 tion.’’. 

3 (b) LIMITATIONS ON GENETIC TESTING; PROHIBI4 TION ON COLLECTION OF GENETIC INFORMATION; APPLI5 CATION TO ALL PLANS.—Section 9802 of such Code is 

6 amended by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (f) 

7 and by inserting after subsection (b) the following new 

8 subsections: 

9 ‘‘(c) GENETIC TESTING.— 

10 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION ON REQUESTING OR REQUIR11 ING GENETIC TESTING.—A group health plan may 

12 not request or require an individual or a family 

13 member of such individual to undergo a genetic test. 

14 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Paragraph (1) 

15 shall not be construed to limit the authority of a 

16 health care professional who is providing health care 

17 services to an individual to request that such indi18 vidual undergo a genetic test. 

19 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING PAY20 MENT.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in paragraph 

22 (1) shall be construed to preclude a group 

23 health plan from obtaining and using the re24 sults of a genetic test in making a determina25 tion regarding payment (as such term is defined 


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HR 493 PCS

1 for the purposes of applying the regulations 

2 promulgated by the Secretary of Health and 

3 Human Services under part C of title XI of the 

4 Social Security Act and section 264 of the 

5 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability 

6 Act of 1996, as may be revised from time to 

7 time) consistent with subsection (a). 

8 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—For purposes of sub9 paragraph (A), a group health plan may re10 quest only the minimum amount of information 

11 necessary to accomplish the intended purpose. 

12 ‘‘(4) RESEARCH EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding 

13 paragraph (1), a group health plan may request, but 

14 not require, that a participant or beneficiary under15 go a genetic test if each of the following conditions 

16 is met: 

17 ‘‘(A) The request is made pursuant to re18 search that complies with part 46 of title 45, 

19 Code of Federal Regulations, or equivalent Fed20 eral regulations, and any applicable State or 

21 local law or regulations for the protection of 

22 human subjects in research. 

23 ‘‘(B) The plan clearly indicates to each 

24 participant or beneficiary, or in the case of a 


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HR 493 PCS

1 minor child, to the legal guardian of such bene2 ficiary, to whom the request is made that— 

3 ‘‘(i) compliance with the request is 

4 voluntary; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) non-compliance will have no ef6 fect on enrollment status or premium or 

7 contribution amounts. 

8 ‘‘(C) No genetic information collected or 

9 acquired under this paragraph shall be used for 

10 underwriting purposes. 

11 ‘‘(D) The plan notifies the Secretary in 

12 writing that the plan is conducting activities 

13 pursuant to the exception provided for under 

14 this paragraph, including a description of the 

15 activities conducted. 

16 ‘‘(E) The plan complies with such other 

17 conditions as the Secretary may by regulation 

18 require for activities conducted under this para19 graph. 

20 ‘‘(d) PROHIBITION ON COLLECTION OF GENETIC IN21 FORMATION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A group health plan shall 

23 not request, require, or purchase genetic information 

24 for underwriting purposes (as defined in section 

25 9832). 


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1 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON COLLECTION OF GE2 NETIC INFORMATION PRIOR TO ENROLLMENT.—A 

3 group health plan shall not request, require, or pur4 chase genetic information with respect to any indi5 vidual prior to such individual’s enrollment under 

6 the plan or in connection with such enrollment. 

7 ‘‘(3) INCIDENTAL COLLECTION.—If a group 

8 health plan obtains genetic information incidental to 

9 the requesting, requiring, or purchasing of other in10 formation concerning any individual, such request, 

11 requirement, or purchase shall not be considered a 

12 violation of paragraph (2) if such request, require13 ment, or purchase is not in violation of paragraph 

14 (1). 

15 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION TO ALL PLANS.—The provisions 

16 of subsections (a)(1)(F), (b)(3), (c), and (d) and sub17 section (b)(1) and section 9801 with respect to genetic in18 formation, shall apply to group health plans without re19 gard to section 9831(a)(2).’’. 

20 (c) APPLICATION TO GENETIC INFORMATION OF A

21 FETUS OR EMBRYO.—Such section is further amended by 

22 adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(f) GENETIC INFORMATION OF A FETUS OR EM24 BRYO.—Any reference in this chapter to genetic informaVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:19 May 01, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00044 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H493.PCS H493

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1 tion concerning an individual or family member of an indi2 vidual shall— 

3 ‘‘(1) with respect to such an individual or fam4 ily member of an individual who is a pregnant 

5 woman, include genetic information of any fetus car6 ried by such pregnant woman; and 

7 ‘‘(2) with respect to an individual or family 

8 member utilizing an assisted reproductive tech9 nology, include genetic information of any embryo le10 gally held by the individual or family member.’’. 

11 (d) DEFINITIONS.—Subsection (d) of section 9832 of 

12 such Code is amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(6) FAMILY MEMBER.—The term ‘family 

14 member’ means, with respect to any individual— 

15 ‘‘(A) a dependent (as such term is used for 

16 purposes of section 9801(f)(2)) of such indi17 vidual, and 

18 ‘‘(B) any other individual who is a first-de19 gree, second-degree, third-degree, or fourth-de20 gree relative of such individual or of an indi21 vidual described in subparagraph (A). 

22 ‘‘(7) GENETIC INFORMATION.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘genetic in24 formation’ means, with respect to any indi25 vidual, information about— 


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HR 493 PCS

1 ‘‘(i) such individual’s genetic tests, 

2 ‘‘(ii) the genetic tests of family mem3 bers of such individual, and 

4 ‘‘(iii) subject to subparagraph (D), 

5 the manifestation of a disease or disorder 

6 in family members of such individual. 

7 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION OF GENETIC SERVICES.— 

8 Such term includes, with respect to any indi9 vidual, any request for, or receipt of, genetic 

10 services (including genetic services received pur11 suant to participation in clinical research) by 

12 such individual or any family member of such 

13 individual. 

14 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘genetic in15 formation’ shall not include information about 

16 the sex or age of any individual. 

17 ‘‘(D) APPLICATION TO FAMILY MEMBERS

18 COVERED UNDER SAME PLAN.—Information de19 scribed in clause (iii) of subparagraph (A) shall 

20 not be treated as genetic information to the ex21 tent that such information is taken into account 

22 only with respect to the individual in which 

23 such disease or disorder is manifested and not 

24 as genetic information with respect to any other 

25 individual. 


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1 ‘‘(8) GENETIC TEST.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘genetic 

3 test’ means an analysis of human DNA, RNA, 

4 chromosomes, proteins, or metabolites, that de5 tects genotypes, mutations, or chromosomal 

6 changes. 

7 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘genetic 

8 test’ does not mean— 

9 ‘‘(i) an analysis of proteins or metabo10 lites that does not detect genotypes, 

11 mutations, or chromosomal changes, or 

12 ‘‘(ii) an analysis of proteins or me13 tabolites that is directly related to a mani14 fested disease, disorder, or pathological 

15 condition that could reasonably be detected 

16 by a health care professional with appro17 priate training and expertise in the field of 

18 medicine involved. 

19 ‘‘(9) GENETIC SERVICES.—The term ‘genetic 

20 services’ means— 

21 ‘‘(A) a genetic test; 

22 ‘‘(B) genetic counseling (including obtain23 ing, interpreting, or assessing genetic informa24 tion); or 

25 ‘‘(C) genetic education. 


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1 ‘‘(10) UNDERWRITING PURPOSES.—The term 

2 ‘underwriting purposes’ means, with respect to any 

3 group health plan ,or health insurance coverage of4 fered in connection with a group health plan— 

5 ‘‘(A) rules for, or determination of, eligi6 bility (including enrollment and continued eligi7 bility) for benefits under the plan or coverage; 

8 ‘‘(B) the computation of premium or con9 tribution amounts under the plan or coverage; 

10 ‘‘(C) the application of any pre-existing 

11 condition exclusion under the plan or coverage; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(D) other activities related to the cre14 ation, renewal, or replacement of a contract of 

15 health insurance or health benefits.’’. 

16 (e) ENFORCEMENT.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter C of chapter 

18 100 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating 

19 to general provisions) is amended by adding at the 

20 end the following new section: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 9834. ENFORCEMENT. 

22 ‘‘For the imposition of tax on any failure of a group 

23 health plan to meet the requirements of this chapter, see 

24 section 4980D.’’. 


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1 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 

2 sections for subchapter C of chapter 100 of such 

3 Code is amended by adding at the end the following 

4 new item: 

‘‘Sec. 9834. Enforcement.’’. 

5 (f) REGULATIONS AND EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

6 (1) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of the 

7 Treasury shall issue final regulations or other guid8 ance not later than 1 year after the date of the en9 actment of this Act to carry out the amendments 

10 made by this section. 

11 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

12 by this section shall apply with respect to group 

13 health plans for plan years beginning after the date 

14 that is 18 months after the date of the enactment 

15 of this Act. 

16 SEC. 104. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE XVIII OF THE SOCIAL SE17 CURITY ACT RELATING TO MEDIGAP. 

18 (a) NONDISCRIMINATION.—Section 1882(s)(2) of the 

19 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ss(s)(2)) is amended 

20 by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(E) An issuer of a medicare supplemental 

22 policy shall not deny or condition the issuance 

23 or effectiveness of the policy (including the im24 position of any exclusion of benefits under the 

25 policy based on a pre-existing condition) and 


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1 shall not discriminate in the pricing of the pol2 icy (including the adjustment of premium rates) 

3 of an individual on the basis of the genetic in4 formation with respect to such individual.’’. 

5 (b) LIMITATIONS ON GENETIC TESTING AND GE6 NETIC INFORMATION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1882 of the Social 

8 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ss) is amended by add9 ing at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(x) LIMITATIONS ON GENETIC TESTING AND IN11 FORMATION.— 

12 ‘‘(1) GENETIC TESTING.— 

13 ‘‘(A) LIMITATION ON REQUESTING OR RE14 QUIRING GENETIC TESTING.—An issuer of a 

15 medicare supplemental policy shall not request 

16 or require an individual or a family member of 

17 such individual to undergo a genetic test. 

18 ‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Subpara19 graph (A) shall not be construed to limit the 

20 authority of a health care professional who is 

21 providing health care services to an individual 

22 to request that such individual undergo a ge23 netic test. 

24 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING

25 PAYMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in sub2 paragraph (A) shall be construed to pre3 clude an issuer of a medicare supplemental 

4 policy from obtaining and using the results 

5 of a genetic test in making a determination 

6 regarding payment (as such term is de7 fined for the purposes of applying the reg8 ulations promulgated by the Secretary 

9 under part C of title XI and section 264 

10 of the Health Insurance Portability and 

11 Accountability Act of 1996, as may be re12 vised from time to time) consistent with 

13 subsection (s)(2)(E). 

14 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—For purposes of 

15 clause (i), an issuer of a medicare supple16 mental policy may request only the min17 imum amount of information necessary to 

18 accomplish the intended purpose. 

19 ‘‘(D) RESEARCH EXCEPTION.—Notwith20 standing subparagraph (A), an issuer of a 

21 medicare supplemental policy may request, but 

22 not require, that an individual or a family mem23 ber of such individual undergo a genetic test if 

24 each of the following conditions is met: 


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1 ‘‘(i) The request is made pursuant to 

2 research that complies with part 46 of title 

3 45, Code of Federal Regulations, or equiv4 alent Federal regulations, and any applica5 ble State or local law or regulations for the 

6 protection of human subjects in research. 

7 ‘‘(ii) The issuer clearly indicates to 

8 each individual, or in the case of a minor 

9 child, to the legal guardian of such child, 

10 to whom the request is made that— 

11 ‘‘(I) compliance with the request 

12 is voluntary; and 

13 ‘‘(II) non-compliance will have no 

14 effect on enrollment status or pre15 mium or contribution amounts. 

16 ‘‘(iii) No genetic information collected 

17 or acquired under this subparagraph shall 

18 be used for underwriting, determination of 

19 eligibility to enroll or maintain enrollment 

20 status, premium rating, or the creation, re21 newal, or replacement of a plan, contract, 

22 or coverage for health insurance or health 

23 benefits. 

24 ‘‘(iv) The issuer notifies the Secretary 

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1 tivities pursuant to the exception provided 

2 for under this subparagraph, including a 

3 description of the activities conducted. 

4 ‘‘(v) The issuer complies with such 

5 other conditions as the Secretary may by 

6 regulation require for activities conducted 

7 under this subparagraph. 

8 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON COLLECTION OF GE9 NETIC INFORMATION.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An issuer of a medi11 care supplemental policy shall not request, re12 quire, or purchase genetic information for un13 derwriting purposes (as defined in paragraph 

14 (3)). 

15 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON COLLECTION OF

16 GENETIC INFORMATION PRIOR TO ENROLL17 MENT.—An issuer of a medicare supplemental 

18 policy shall not request, require, or purchase ge19 netic information with respect to any individual 

20 prior to such individual’s enrollment under the 

21 policy in connection with such enrollment. 

22 ‘‘(C) INCIDENTAL COLLECTION.—If an 

23 issuer of a medicare supplemental policy obtains 

24 genetic information incidental to the requesting, 

25 requiring, or purchasing of other information 


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1 concerning any individual, such request, re2 quirement, or purchase shall not be considered 

3 a violation of subparagraph (B) if such request, 

4 requirement, or purchase is not in violation of 

5 subparagraph (A). 

6 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

7 ‘‘(A) FAMILY MEMBER.—The term ‘family 

8 member’ means with respect to an individual, 

9 any other individual who is a first-degree, sec10 ond-degree, third-degree, or fourth-degree rel11 ative of such individual. 

12 ‘‘(B) GENETIC INFORMATION.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘genetic 

14 information’ means, with respect to any in15 dividual, information about— 

16 ‘‘(I) such individual’s genetic 

17 tests, 

18 ‘‘(II) the genetic tests of family 

19 members of such individual, and 

20 ‘‘(III) subject to clause (iv), the 

21 manifestation of a disease or disorder 

22 in family members of such individual. 

23 ‘‘(ii) INCLUSION OF GENETIC SERV24 ICES.—Such term includes, with respect to 

25 any individual, any request for, or receipt 


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1 of, genetic services (including genetic serv2 ices received pursuant to participation in 

3 clinical research) by such individual or any 

4 family member of such individual. 

5 ‘‘(iii) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘ge6 netic information’ shall not include infor7 mation about the sex or age of any indi8 vidual. 

9 ‘‘(C) GENETIC TEST.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘genetic 

11 test’ means an analysis of human DNA, 

12 RNA, chromosomes, proteins, or metabo13 lites, that detects genotypes, mutations, or 

14 chromosomal changes. 

15 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘genetic 

16 test’ does not mean— 

17 ‘‘(I) an analysis of proteins or 

18 metabolites that does not detect 

19 genotypes, mutations, or chromosomal 

20 changes; or 

21 ‘‘(II) an analysis of proteins or 

22 metabolites that is directly related to 

23 a manifested disease, disorder, or 

24 pathological condition that could rea25 sonably be detected by a health care 


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1 professional with appropriate training 

2 and expertise in the field of medicine 

3 involved. 

4 ‘‘(D) GENETIC SERVICES.—The term ‘ge5 netic services’ means— 

6 ‘‘(i) a genetic test; 

7 ‘‘(ii) genetic counseling (including ob8 taining, interpreting, or assessing genetic 

9 information); or 

10 ‘‘(iii) genetic education. 

11 ‘‘(E) UNDERWRITING PURPOSES.—The 

12 term ‘underwriting purposes’ means, with re13 spect to a medicare supplemental policy— 

14 ‘‘(i) rules for, or determination of, eli15 gibility (including enrollment and contin16 ued eligibility) for benefits under the pol17 icy; 

18 ‘‘(ii) the computation of premium or 

19 contribution amounts under the policy; 

20 ‘‘(iii) the application of any pre-exist21 ing condition exclusion under the policy; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(iv) other activities related to the 

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1 tract of health insurance or health bene2 fits. 

3 ‘‘(F) ISSUER OF A MEDICARE SUPPLE4 MENTAL POLICY.—The term ‘issuer of a medi5 care supplemental policy’ includes a third-party 

6 administrator or other person acting for or on 

7 behalf of such issuer.’’. 

8 (2) APPLICATION TO GENETIC INFORMATION OF

9 A FETUS OR EMBRYO.—Section 1882(x) of such Act, 

10 as added by paragraph (1), is further amended by 

11 adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(4) GENETIC INFORMATION OF A FETUS OR

13 EMBRYO.—Any reference in this section to genetic 

14 information concerning an individual or family mem15 ber of an individual shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) with respect to such an individual or 

17 family member of an individual who is a preg18 nant woman, include genetic information of any 

19 fetus carried by such pregnant woman; and 

20 ‘‘(B) with respect to an individual or fam21 ily member utilizing an assisted reproductive 

22 technology, include genetic information of any 

23 embryo legally held by the individual or family 

24 member.’’. 


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1 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

2 1882(o) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 1395ss(o)) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(4) The issuer of the medicare supplemental 

6 policy complies with subsection (s)(2)(E) and sub7 section (x).’’. 

8 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 this section shall apply with respect to an issuer of a medi10 care supplemental policy for policy years beginning on or 

11 after the date that is 18 months after the date of enact12 ment of this Act. 

13 (d) TRANSITION PROVISIONS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary of Health 

15 and Human Services identifies a State as requiring 

16 a change to its statutes or regulations to conform its 

17 regulatory program to the changes made by this sec18 tion, the State regulatory program shall not be con19 sidered to be out of compliance with the require20 ments of section 1882 of the Social Security Act due 

21 solely to failure to make such change until the date 

22 specified in paragraph (4). 

23 (2) NAIC STANDARDS.—If, not later than June 

24 30, 2008, the National Association of Insurance 

25 Commissioners (in this subsection referred to as the 


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1 ‘‘NAIC’’) modifies its NAIC Model Regulation relat2 ing to section 1882 of the Social Security Act (re3 ferred to in such section as the 1991 NAIC Model 

4 Regulation, as subsequently modified) to conform to 

5 the amendments made by this section, such revised 

6 regulation incorporating the modifications shall be 

7 considered to be the applicable NAIC model regula8 tion (including the revised NAIC model regulation 

9 and the 1991 NAIC Model Regulation) for the pur10 poses of such section. 

11 (3) SECRETARY STANDARDS.—If the NAIC 

12 does not make the modifications described in para13 graph (2) within the period specified in such para14 graph, the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

15 shall, not later than October 1, 2008, make the 

16 modifications described in such paragraph and such 

17 revised regulation incorporating the modifications 

18 shall be considered to be the appropriate regulation 

19 for the purposes of such section. 

20 (4) DATE SPECIFIED.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara22 graph (B), the date specified in this paragraph 

23 for a State is the earlier of— 

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1 latory program to the changes made by 

2 this section, or 

3 (ii) October 1, 2008. 

4 (B) ADDITIONAL LEGISLATIVE ACTION RE5 QUIRED.—In the case of a State which the Sec6 retary identifies as— 

7 (i) requiring State legislation (other 

8 than legislation appropriating funds) to 

9 conform its regulatory program to the 

10 changes made in this section, but 

11 (ii) having a legislature which is not 

12 scheduled to meet in 2008 in a legislative 

13 session in which such legislation may be 

14 considered, the date specified in this para15 graph is the first day of the first calendar 

16 quarter beginning after the close of the 

17 first legislative session of the State legisla18 ture that begins on or after July 1, 2008. 

19 For purposes of the previous sentence, in 

20 the case of a State that has a 2-year legis21 lative session, each year of such session 

22 shall be deemed to be a separate regular 

23 session of the State legislature. 


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1 SEC. 105. PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part C of title XI of the Social 

3 Security Act is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing new section: 

5 ‘‘APPLICATION OF HIPAA REGULATIONS TO GENETIC

6 INFORMATION

7 ‘‘SEC. 1180. (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

8 revise the HIPAA privacy regulation (as defined in sub9 section (b)) so it is consistent with the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) Genetic information shall be treated as 

11 health information described in section 1171(4)(B). 

12 ‘‘(2) The use or disclosure by a covered entity 

13 that is a group health plan, health insurance issuer 

14 that issues health insurance coverage, or issuer of a 

15 medicare supplemental policy of protected health in16 formation that is genetic information about an indi17 vidual for underwriting purposes under the group 

18 health plan, health insurance coverage, or medicare 

19 supplemental policy shall not be a permitted use or 

20 disclosure. 

21 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

22 ‘‘(1) GENETIC INFORMATION; GENETIC TEST; 

23 FAMILY MEMBER.—The terms ‘genetic information’, 

24 ‘genetic test’, and ‘family member’ have the mean25 ings given such terms in section 2791 of the Public 

26 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–91), as 


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1 amended by the Genetic Information Nondiscrimina2 tion Act of 2007. 

3 ‘‘(2) GROUP HEALTH PLAN; HEALTH INSUR4 ANCE COVERAGE; MEDICARE SUPPLEMENTAL POL5 ICY.—The terms ‘group health plan’ and ‘health in6 surance coverage’ have the meanings given such 

7 terms under section 2791 of the Public Health Serv8 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–91), and the term ‘medi9 care supplemental policy’ has the meaning given 

10 such term in section 1882(g). 

11 ‘‘(3) HIPAA PRIVACY REGULATION.—The term 

12 ‘HIPAA privacy regulation’ means the regulations 

13 promulgated by the Secretary under this part and 

14 section 264 of the Health Insurance Portability and 

15 Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1320d–2 

16 note). 

17 ‘‘(4) UNDERWRITING PURPOSES.—The term 

18 ‘underwriting purposes’ means, with respect to a 

19 group health plan, health insurance coverage, or a 

20 medicare supplemental policy— 

21 ‘‘(A) rules for eligibility (including enroll22 ment and continued eligibility) for, or deter23 mination of, benefits under the plan, coverage, 

24 or policy; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the computation of premium or con2 tribution amounts under the plan, coverage, or 

3 policy; 

4 ‘‘(C) the application of any pre-existing 

5 condition exclusion under the plan, coverage, or 

6 policy; and 

7 ‘‘(D) other activities related to the cre8 ation, renewal, or replacement of a contract of 

9 health insurance or health benefits. 

10 ‘‘(c) PROCEDURE.—The revisions under subsection 

11 (a) shall be made by notice in the Federal Register pub12 lished not later than 60 days after the date of the enact13 ment of this section and shall be effective upon publica14 tion, without opportunity for any prior public comment, 

15 but may be revised, consistent with this section, after op16 portunity for public comment. 

17 ‘‘(d) ENFORCEMENT.—In addition to any other sanc18 tions or remedies that may be available under law, a cov19 ered entity that is a group health plan, health insurance 

20 issuer, or issuer of a medicare supplemental policy and 

21 that violates the HIPAA privacy regulation (as revised 

22 under subsection (a) or otherwise) with respect to the use 

23 or disclosure of genetic information shall be subject to the 

24 penalties described in sections 1176 and 1177 in the same 


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1 manner and to the same extent that such penalties apply 

2 to violations of this part.’’. 

3 (b) REGULATIONS; EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

4 (1) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

6 of Health and Human Services shall issue final reg7 ulations to carry out the revision required by section 

8 1180(a) of the Social Security Act, as added by sub9 section (a). The Secretary has the sole authority to 

10 promulgate such regulations, but shall promulgate 

11 such regulations in consultation with the Secretaries 

12 of Labor and the Treasury. 

13 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

14 by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that 

15 is 18 months after the date of the enactment of this 

16 Act. 

17 SEC. 106. ASSURING COORDINATION. 

18 Except as provided in section 105(b)(1), the Sec19 retary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of 

20 Labor, and the Secretary of the Treasury shall ensure, 

21 through the execution of an interagency memorandum of 

22 understanding among such Secretaries, that— 

23 (1) regulations, rulings, and interpretations 

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1 sponsibility under this title (and the amendments 

2 made by this title) are administered so as to have 

3 the same effect at all times; and 

4 (2) coordination of policies relating to enforcing 

5 the same requirements through such Secretaries in 

6 order to have a coordinated enforcement strategy 

7 that avoids duplication of enforcement efforts and 

8 assigns priorities in enforcement. 

9 TITLE II—PROHIBITING EM10 PLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION 

11 ON THE BASIS OF GENETIC 

12 INFORMATION 

13 SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 

14 In this title: 

15 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

16 means the Equal Employment Opportunity Commis17 sion as created by section 705 of the Civil Rights 

18 Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–4). 

19 (2) EMPLOYEE; EMPLOYER; EMPLOYMENT

20 AGENCY; LABOR ORGANIZATION; MEMBER.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘employee’’ 

22 means— 

23 (i) an employee (including an appli24 cant), as defined in section 701(f) of the 


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1 Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

2 2000e(f)); 

3 (ii) a State employee (including an ap4 plicant) described in section 304(a) of the 

5 Government Employee Rights Act of 1991 

6 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16c(a)); 

7 (iii) a covered employee (including an 

8 applicant), as defined in section 101 of the 

9 Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 

10 (2 U.S.C. 1301); 

11 (iv) a covered employee (including an 

12 applicant), as defined in section 411(c) of 

13 title 3, United States Code; or 

14 (v) an employee or applicant to which 

15 section 717(a) of the Civil Rights Act of 

16 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16(a)) applies. 

17 (B) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’ 

18 means— 

19 (i) an employer (as defined in section 

20 701(b) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

21 U.S.C. 2000e(b))); 

22 (ii) an entity employing a State em23 ployee described in section 304(a) of the 

24 Government Employee Rights Act of 1991; 


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1 (iii) an employing office, as defined in 

2 section 101 of the Congressional Account3 ability Act of 1995; 

4 (iv) an employing office, as defined in 

5 section 411(c) of title 3, United States 

6 Code; or 

7 (v) an entity to which section 717(a) 

8 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies. 

9 (C) EMPLOYMENT AGENCY; LABOR ORGA10 NIZATION.—The terms ‘‘employment agency’’ 

11 and ‘‘labor organization’’ have the meanings 

12 given the terms in section 701 of the Civil 

13 Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e). 

14 (D) MEMBER.—The term ‘‘member’’, with 

15 respect to a labor organization, includes an ap16 plicant for membership in a labor organization. 

17 (3) FAMILY MEMBER.—The term ‘‘family mem18 ber’’ means, with respect to an individual— 

19 (A) a dependent (as such term is used for 

20 purposes of section 701(f)(2) of the Employee 

21 Retirement Income Security Act of 1974) of 

22 such individual, and 

23 (B) any other individual who is a first-de24 gree, second-degree, third-degree, or fourth-deVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:19 May 01, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00067 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H493.PCS H493

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1 gree relative of such individual or of an indi2 vidual described in subparagraph (A). 

3 (4) GENETIC INFORMATION.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘genetic in5 formation’’ means, with respect to any indi6 vidual, information about— 

7 (i) such individual’s genetic tests, 

8 (ii) the genetic tests of family mem9 bers of such individual, and 

10 (iii) subject to subparagraph (D), the 

11 manifestation of a disease or disorder in 

12 family members of such individual. 

13 (B) INCLUSION OF GENETIC SERVICES.— 

14 Such term includes, with respect to any indi15 vidual, any request for, or receipt of, genetic 

16 services (including genetic services received pur17 suant to participation in clinical research) by 

18 such individual or any family member of such 

19 individual. 

20 (C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘genetic in21 formation’’ shall not include information about 

22 the sex or age of any individual. 

23 (5) GENETIC MONITORING.—The term ‘‘genetic 

24 monitoring’’ means the periodic examination of em25 ployees to evaluate acquired modifications to their 


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1 genetic material, such as chromosomal damage or 

2 evidence of increased occurrence of mutations, that 

3 may have developed in the course of employment due 

4 to exposure to toxic substances in the workplace, in 

5 order to identify, evaluate, and respond to the ef6 fects of or control adverse environmental exposures 

7 in the workplace. 

8 (6) GENETIC SERVICES.—The term ‘‘genetic 

9 services’’ means— 

10 (A) a genetic test; 

11 (B) genetic counseling (including obtain12 ing, interpreting, or assessing genetic informa13 tion); or 

14 (C) genetic education. 

15 (7) GENETIC TEST.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘genetic 

17 test’’ means an analysis of human DNA, RNA, 

18 chromosomes, proteins, or metabolites, that de19 tects genotypes, mutations, or chromosomal 

20 changes. 

21 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘‘genetic 

22 test’’ does not mean an analysis of proteins or 

23 metabolites that does not detect genotypes, 

24 mutations, or chromosomal changes. 


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1 SEC. 202. EMPLOYER PRACTICES. 

2 (a) DISCRIMINATION BASED ON GENETIC INFORMA3 TION.—It shall be an unlawful employment practice for 

4 an employer— 

5 (1) to fail or refuse to hire, or to discharge, any 

6 employee, or otherwise to discriminate against any 

7 employee with respect to the compensation, terms, 

8 conditions, or privileges of employment of the em9 ployee, because of genetic information with respect 

10 to the employee; or 

11 (2) to limit, segregate, or classify the employees 

12 of the employer in any way that would deprive or 

13 tend to deprive any employee of employment oppor14 tunities or otherwise adversely affect the status of 

15 the employee as an employee, because of genetic in16 formation with respect to the employee. 

17 (b) ACQUISITION OF GENETIC INFORMATION.—It 

18 shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer 

19 to request, require, or purchase genetic information with 

20 respect to an employee or a family member of the em21 ployee except— 

22 (1) where an employer inadvertently requests or 

23 requires family medical history of the employee or 

24 family member of the employee; 

25 (2) where— 


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1 (A) health or genetic services are offered 

2 by the employer, including such services offered 

3 as part of a bona fide wellness program; 

4 (B) the employee provides prior, knowing, 

5 voluntary, and written authorization; 

6 (C) only the employee (or family member 

7 if the family member is receiving genetic serv8 ices) and the licensed health care professional 

9 or board certified genetic counselor involved in 

10 providing such services receive individually iden11 tifiable information concerning the results of 

12 such services; and 

13 (D) any individually identifiable genetic in14 formation provided under subparagraph (C) in 

15 connection with the services provided under 

16 subparagraph (A) is only available for purposes 

17 of such services and shall not be disclosed to 

18 the employer except in aggregate terms that do 

19 not disclose the identity of specific employees; 

20 (3) where an employer requests or requires 

21 family medical history from the employee to comply 

22 with the certification provisions of section 103 of the 

23 Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 

24 2613) or such requirements under State family and 

25 medical leave laws; 


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1 (4) where an employer purchases documents 

2 that are commercially and publicly available (includ3 ing newspapers, magazines, periodicals, and books, 

4 but not including medical databases or court 

5 records) that include family medical history; 

6 (5) where the information involved is to be used 

7 for genetic monitoring of the biological effects of 

8 toxic substances in the workplace, but only if— 

9 (A) the employer provides written notice of 

10 the genetic monitoring to the employee; 

11 (B)(i) the employee provides prior, know12 ing, voluntary, and written authorization; or 

13 (ii) the genetic monitoring is required by 

14 Federal or State law; 

15 (C) the employee is informed of individual 

16 monitoring results; 

17 (D) the monitoring is in compliance with— 

18 (i) any Federal genetic monitoring 

19 regulations, including any such regulations 

20 that may be promulgated by the Secretary 

21 of Labor pursuant to the Occupational 

22 Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 

23 651 et seq.), the Federal Mine Safety and 

24 Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 801 et 


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1 seq.), or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 

2 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); or 

3 (ii) State genetic monitoring regula4 tions, in the case of a State that is imple5 menting genetic monitoring regulations 

6 under the authority of the Occupational 

7 Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 

8 651 et seq.); and 

9 (E) the employer, excluding any licensed 

10 health care professional or board certified ge11 netic counselor that is involved in the genetic 

12 monitoring program, receives the results of the 

13 monitoring only in aggregate terms that do not 

14 disclose the identity of specific employees; or 

15 (6) where the employer conducts DNA analysis 

16 for law enforcement purposes as a forensic labora17 tory, includes such analysis in the Combined DNA 

18 Index System pursuant to section 210304 of the 

19 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 

20 1994 (42 U.S.C. 14132), and requests or requires 

21 genetic information of such employer’s employees, 

22 but only to the extent that such genetic information 

23 is used for analysis of DNA identification markers 

24 for quality control to detect sample contamination. 


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1 (c) PRESERVATION OF PROTECTIONS.—In the case 

2 of information to which any of paragraphs (1) through 

3 (6) of subsection (b) applies, such information may not 

4 be used in violation of paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection 

5 (a) or treated or disclosed in a manner that violates sec6 tion 206. 

7 SEC. 203. EMPLOYMENT AGENCY PRACTICES. 

8 (a) DISCRIMINATION BASED ON GENETIC INFORMA9 TION.—It shall be an unlawful employment practice for 

10 an employment agency— 

11 (1) to fail or refuse to refer for employment, or 

12 otherwise to discriminate against, any individual be13 cause of genetic information with respect to the indi14 vidual; 

15 (2) to limit, segregate, or classify individuals or 

16 fail or refuse to refer for employment any individual 

17 in any way that would deprive or tend to deprive any 

18 individual of employment opportunities, or otherwise 

19 adversely affect the status of the individual as an 

20 employee, because of genetic information with re21 spect to the individual; or 

22 (3) to cause or attempt to cause an employer to 

23 discriminate against an individual in violation of this 

24 title. 


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1 (b) ACQUISITION OF GENETIC INFORMATION.—It 

2 shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employ3 ment agency to request, require, or purchase genetic infor4 mation with respect to an individual or a family member 

5 of the individual except— 

6 (1) where an employment agency inadvertently 

7 requests or requires family medical history of the in8 dividual or family member of the individual; 

9 (2) where— 

10 (A) health or genetic services are offered 

11 by the employment agency, including such serv12 ices offered as part of a bona fide wellness pro13 gram; 

14 (B) the individual provides prior, knowing, 

15 voluntary, and written authorization; 

16 (C) only the individual (or family member 

17 if the family member is receiving genetic serv18 ices) and the licensed health care professional 

19 or board certified genetic counselor involved in 

20 providing such services receive individually iden21 tifiable information concerning the results of 

22 such services; and 

23 (D) any individually identifiable genetic in24 formation provided under subparagraph (C) in 

25 connection with the services provided under 


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1 subparagraph (A) is only available for purposes 

2 of such services and shall not be disclosed to 

3 the employment agency except in aggregate 

4 terms that do not disclose the identity of spe5 cific individuals; 

6 (3) where an employment agency requests or re7 quires family medical history from the individual to 

8 comply with the certification provisions of section 

9 103 of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 

10 (29 U.S.C. 2613) or such requirements under State 

11 family and medical leave laws; 

12 (4) where an employment agency purchases 

13 documents that are commercially and publicly avail14 able (including newspapers, magazines, periodicals, 

15 and books, but not including medical databases or 

16 court records) that include family medical history; or 

17 (5) where the information involved is to be used 

18 for genetic monitoring of the biological effects of 

19 toxic substances in the workplace, but only if— 

20 (A) the employment agency provides writ21 ten notice of the genetic monitoring to the indi22 vidual; 

23 (B)(i) the individual provides prior, know24 ing, voluntary, and written authorization; or 


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1 (ii) the genetic monitoring is required by 

2 Federal or State law; 

3 (C) the individual is informed of individual 

4 monitoring results; 

5 (D) the monitoring is in compliance with— 

6 (i) any Federal genetic monitoring 

7 regulations, including any such regulations 

8 that may be promulgated by the Secretary 

9 of Labor pursuant to the Occupational 

10 Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 

11 651 et seq.), the Federal Mine Safety and 

12 Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 801 et 

13 seq.), or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 

14 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); or 

15 (ii) State genetic monitoring regula16 tions, in the case of a State that is imple17 menting genetic monitoring regulations 

18 under the authority of the Occupational 

19 Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 

20 651 et seq.); and 

21 (E) the employment agency, excluding any 

22 licensed health care professional or board cer23 tified genetic counselor that is involved in the 

24 genetic monitoring program, receives the results 

25 of the monitoring only in aggregate terms that 


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1 do not disclose the identity of specific individ2 uals. 

3 (c) PRESERVATION OF PROTECTIONS.—In the case 

4 of information to which any of paragraphs (1) through 

5 (5) of subsection (b) applies, such information may not 

6 be used in violation of paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of sub7 section (a) or treated or disclosed in a manner that vio8 lates section 206. 

9 SEC. 204. LABOR ORGANIZATION PRACTICES. 

10 (a) DISCRIMINATION BASED ON GENETIC INFORMA11 TION.—It shall be an unlawful employment practice for 

12 a labor organization— 

13 (1) to exclude or to expel from the membership 

14 of the organization, or otherwise to discriminate 

15 against, any member because of genetic information 

16 with respect to the member; 

17 (2) to limit, segregate, or classify the members 

18 of the organization, or fail or refuse to refer for em19 ployment any member, in any way that would de20 prive or tend to deprive any member of employment 

21 opportunities, or otherwise adversely affect the sta22 tus of the member as an employee, because of ge23 netic information with respect to the member; or 


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1 (3) to cause or attempt to cause an employer to 

2 discriminate against a member in violation of this 

3 title. 

4 (b) ACQUISITION OF GENETIC INFORMATION.—It 

5 shall be an unlawful employment practice for a labor orga6 nization to request, require, or purchase genetic informa7 tion with respect to a member or a family member of the 

8 member except— 

9 (1) where a labor organization inadvertently re10 quests or requires family medical history of the 

11 member or family member of the member; 

12 (2) where— 

13 (A) health or genetic services are offered 

14 by the labor organization, including such serv15 ices offered as part of a bona fide wellness pro16 gram; 

17 (B) the member provides prior, knowing, 

18 voluntary, and written authorization; 

19 (C) only the member (or family member if 

20 the family member is receiving genetic services) 

21 and the licensed health care professional or 

22 board certified genetic counselor involved in 

23 providing such services receive individually iden24 tifiable information concerning the results of 

25 such services; and 


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1 (D) any individually identifiable genetic in2 formation provided under subparagraph (C) in 

3 connection with the services provided under 

4 subparagraph (A) is only available for purposes 

5 of such services and shall not be disclosed to 

6 the labor organization except in aggregate 

7 terms that do not disclose the identity of spe8 cific members; 

9 (3) where a labor organization requests or re10 quires family medical history from the members to 

11 comply with the certification provisions of section 

12 103 of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 

13 (29 U.S.C. 2613) or such requirements under State 

14 family and medical leave laws; 

15 (4) where a labor organization purchases docu16 ments that are commercially and publicly available 

17 (including newspapers, magazines, periodicals, and 

18 books, but not including medical databases or court 

19 records) that include family medical history; or 

20 (5) where the information involved is to be used 

21 for genetic monitoring of the biological effects of 

22 toxic substances in the workplace, but only if— 

23 (A) the labor organization provides written 

24 notice of the genetic monitoring to the member; 


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1 (B)(i) the member provides prior, knowing, 

2 voluntary, and written authorization; or 

3 (ii) the genetic monitoring is required by 

4 Federal or State law; 

5 (C) the member is informed of individual 

6 monitoring results; 

7 (D) the monitoring is in compliance with— 

8 (i) any Federal genetic monitoring 

9 regulations, including any such regulations 

10 that may be promulgated by the Secretary 

11 of Labor pursuant to the Occupational 

12 Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 

13 651 et seq.), the Federal Mine Safety and 

14 Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 801 et 

15 seq.), or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 

16 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); or 

17 (ii) State genetic monitoring regula18 tions, in the case of a State that is imple19 menting genetic monitoring regulations 

20 under the authority of the Occupational 

21 Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 

22 651 et seq.); and 

23 (E) the labor organization, excluding any 

24 licensed health care professional or board cer25 tified genetic counselor that is involved in the 


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1 genetic monitoring program, receives the results 

2 of the monitoring only in aggregate terms that 

3 do not disclose the identity of specific members. 

4 (c) PRESERVATION OF PROTECTIONS.—In the case 

5 of information to which any of paragraphs (1) through 

6 (5) of subsection (b) applies, such information may not 

7 be used in violation of paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of sub8 section (a) or treated or disclosed in a manner that vio9 lates section 206. 

10 SEC. 205. TRAINING PROGRAMS. 

11 (a) DISCRIMINATION BASED ON GENETIC INFORMA12 TION.—It shall be an unlawful employment practice for 

13 any employer, labor organization, or joint labor-manage14 ment committee controlling apprenticeship or other train15 ing or retraining, including on-the-job training pro16 grams— 

17 (1) to discriminate against any individual be18 cause of genetic information with respect to the indi19 vidual in admission to, or employment in, any pro20 gram established to provide apprenticeship or other 

21 training or retraining; 

22 (2) to limit, segregate, or classify the applicants 

23 for or participants in such apprenticeship or other 

24 training or retraining, or fail or refuse to refer for 

25 employment any individual, in any way that would 


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1 deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employ2 ment opportunities, or otherwise adversely affect the 

3 status of the individual as an employee, because of 

4 genetic information with respect to the individual; or 

5 (3) to cause or attempt to cause an employer to 

6 discriminate against an applicant for or a partici7 pant in such apprenticeship or other training or re8 training in violation of this title. 

9 (b) ACQUISITION OF GENETIC INFORMATION.—It 

10 shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer, 

11 labor organization, or joint labor-management committee 

12 described in subsection (a) to request, require, or purchase 

13 genetic information with respect to an individual or a fam14 ily member of the individual except— 

15 (1) where the employer, labor organization, or 

16 joint labor-management committee inadvertently re17 quests or requires family medical history of the indi18 vidual or family member of the individual; 

19 (2) where— 

20 (A) health or genetic services are offered 

21 by the employer, labor organization, or joint 

22 labor-management committee, including such 

23 services offered as part of a bona fide wellness 

24 program; 


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1 (B) the individual provides prior, knowing, 

2 voluntary, and written authorization; 

3 (C) only the individual (or family member 

4 if the family member is receiving genetic serv5 ices) and the licensed health care professional 

6 or board certified genetic counselor involved in 

7 providing such services receive individually iden8 tifiable information concerning the results of 

9 such services; and 

10 (D) any individually identifiable genetic in11 formation provided under subparagraph (C) in 

12 connection with the services provided under 

13 subparagraph (A) is only available for purposes 

14 of such services and shall not be disclosed to 

15 the employer, labor organization, or joint labor16 management committee except in aggregate 

17 terms that do not disclose the identity of spe18 cific individuals; 

19 (3) where the employer, labor organization, or 

20 joint labor-management committee requests or re21 quires family medical history from the individual to 

22 comply with the certification provisions of section 

23 103 of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 

24 (29 U.S.C. 2613) or such requirements under State 

25 family and medical leave laws; 


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1 (4) where the employer, labor organization, or 

2 joint labor-management committee purchases docu3 ments that are commercially and publicly available 

4 (including newspapers, magazines, periodicals, and 

5 books, but not including medical databases or court 

6 records) that include family medical history; 

7 (5) where the information involved is to be used 

8 for genetic monitoring of the biological effects of 

9 toxic substances in the workplace, but only if— 

10 (A) the employer, labor organization, or 

11 joint labor-management committee provides 

12 written notice of the genetic monitoring to the 

13 individual; 

14 (B)(i) the individual provides prior, know15 ing, voluntary, and written authorization; or 

16 (ii) the genetic monitoring is required by 

17 Federal or State law; 

18 (C) the individual is informed of individual 

19 monitoring results; 

20 (D) the monitoring is in compliance with— 

21 (i) any Federal genetic monitoring 

22 regulations, including any such regulations 

23 that may be promulgated by the Secretary 

24 of Labor pursuant to the Occupational 

25 Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 


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1 651 et seq.), the Federal Mine Safety and 

2 Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 801 et 

3 seq.), or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 

4 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); or 

5 (ii) State genetic monitoring regula6 tions, in the case of a State that is imple7 menting genetic monitoring regulations 

8 under the authority of the Occupational 

9 Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 

10 651 et seq.); and 

11 (E) the employer, labor organization, or 

12 joint labor-management committee, excluding 

13 any licensed health care professional or board 

14 certified genetic counselor that is involved in 

15 the genetic monitoring program, receives the re16 sults of the monitoring only in aggregate terms 

17 that do not disclose the identity of specific indi18 viduals; or 

19 (6) where the employer conducts DNA analysis 

20 for law enforcement purposes as a forensic labora21 tory, includes such analysis in the Combined DNA 

22 Index System pursuant to section 210304 of the 

23 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 

24 1994 (42 U.S.C. 14132), and requests or requires 

25 genetic information of such employer’s apprentices 


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1 or trainees, but only to the extent that such genetic 

2 information is used for analysis of DNA identifica3 tion markers for quality control to detect sample 

4 contamination. 

5 (c) PRESERVATION OF PROTECTIONS.—In the case 

6 of information to which any of paragraphs (1) through 

7 (6) of subsection (b) applies, such information may not 

8 be used in violation of paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of sub9 section (a) or treated or disclosed in a manner that vio10 lates section 206. 

11 SEC. 206. CONFIDENTIALITY OF GENETIC INFORMATION. 

12 (a) TREATMENT OF INFORMATION AS PART OF CON13 FIDENTIAL MEDICAL RECORD.—If an employer, employ14 ment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-manage15 ment committee possesses genetic information about an 

16 employee or member, such information shall be main17 tained on separate forms and in separate medical files and 

18 be treated as a confidential medical record of the employee 

19 or member. An employer, employment agency, labor orga20 nization, or joint labor-management committee shall be 

21 considered to be in compliance with the maintenance of 

22 information requirements of this subsection with respect 

23 to genetic information subject to this subsection that is 

24 maintained with and treated as a confidential medical 


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1 record under section 102(d)(3)(B) of the Americans With 

2 Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. 12112(d)(3)(B)). 

3 (b) LIMITATION ON DISCLOSURE.—An employer, em4 ployment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-man5 agement committee shall not disclose genetic information 

6 concerning an employee or member except— 

7 (1) to the employee or member of a labor orga8 nization (or family member if the family member is 

9 receiving the genetic services) at the written request 

10 of the employee or member of such organization; 

11 (2) to an occupational or other health re12 searcher if the research is conducted in compliance 

13 with the regulations and protections provided for 

14 under part 46 of title 45, Code of Federal Regula15 tions; 

16 (3) in response to an order of a court, except 

17 that— 

18 (A) the employer, employment agency, 

19 labor organization, or joint labor-management 

20 committee may disclose only the genetic infor21 mation expressly authorized by such order; and 

22 (B) if the court order was secured without 

23 the knowledge of the employee or member to 

24 whom the information refers, the employer, em25 ployment agency, labor organization, or joint 


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1 labor-management committee shall inform the 

2 employee or member of the court order and any 

3 genetic information that was disclosed pursuant 

4 to such order; 

5 (4) to government officials who are inves6 tigating compliance with this title if the information 

7 is relevant to the investigation; or 

8 (5) to the extent that such disclosure is made 

9 in connection with the employee’s compliance with 

10 the certification provisions of section 103 of the 

11 Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 

12 2613) or such requirements under State family and 

13 medical leave laws. 

14 (c) RELATIONSHIP TO HIPAA REGULATIONS.—With 

15 respect to the regulations promulgated by the Secretary 

16 of Health and Human Services under part C of title XI 

17 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320d et seq.) and 

18 section 264 of the Health Insurance Portability and Ac19 countability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1320d-2 note), this 

20 title does not prohibit a covered entity under such regula21 tions from any use or disclosure of health information that 

22 is authorized for the covered entity under such regula23 tions. The previous sentence does not affect the authority 

24 of such Secretary to modify such regulations. 


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1 SEC. 207. REMEDIES AND ENFORCEMENT. 

2 (a) EMPLOYEES COVERED BY TITLE VII OF THE

3 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The powers, remedies, and 

5 procedures provided in sections 705, 706, 707, 709, 

6 710, and 711 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

7 U.S.C. 2000e–4 et seq.) to the Commission, the At8 torney General, or any person, alleging a violation of 

9 title VII of that Act (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.) shall 

10 be the powers, remedies, and procedures this title 

11 provides to the Commission, the Attorney General, 

12 or any person, respectively, alleging an unlawful em13 ployment practice in violation of this title against an 

14 employee described in section 201(2)(A)(i), except as 

15 provided in paragraphs (2) and (3). 

16 (2) COSTS AND FEES.—The powers, remedies, 

17 and procedures provided in subsections (b) and (c) 

18 of section 722 of the Revised Statutes of the United 

19 States (42 U.S.C. 1988), shall be powers, remedies, 

20 and procedures this title provides to the Commis21 sion, the Attorney General, or any person, alleging 

22 such a practice. 

23 (3) DAMAGES.—The powers, remedies, and pro24 cedures provided in section 1977A of the Revised 

25 Statutes of the United States (42 U.S.C. 1981a), in26 cluding the limitations contained in subsection (b)(3) 


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1 of such section 1977A, shall be powers, remedies, 

2 and procedures this title provides to the Commis3 sion, the Attorney General, or any person, alleging 

4 such a practice (not an employment practice specifi5 cally excluded from coverage under section 

6 1977A(a)(1) of the Revised Statutes of the United 

7 States). 

8 (b) EMPLOYEES COVERED BY GOVERNMENT EM9 PLOYEE RIGHTS ACT OF 1991.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The powers, remedies, and 

11 procedures provided in sections 302 and 304 of the 

12 Government Employee Rights Act of 1991 (42 

13 U.S.C. 2000e–16b, 2000e–16c) to the Commission, 

14 or any person, alleging a violation of section 

15 302(a)(1) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16b(a)(1)) 

16 shall be the powers, remedies, and procedures this 

17 title provides to the Commission, or any person, re18 spectively, alleging an unlawful employment practice 

19 in violation of this title against an employee de20 scribed in section 201(2)(A)(ii), except as provided 

21 in paragraphs (2) and (3). 

22 (2) COSTS AND FEES.—The powers, remedies, 

23 and procedures provided in subsections (b) and (c) 

24 of section 722 of the Revised Statutes of the United 

25 States (42 U.S.C. 1988), shall be powers, remedies, 


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1 and procedures this title provides to the Commis2 sion, or any person, alleging such a practice. 

3 (3) DAMAGES.—The powers, remedies, and pro4 cedures provided in section 1977A of the Revised 

5 Statutes of the United States (42 U.S.C. 1981a), in6 cluding the limitations contained in subsection (b)(3) 

7 of such section 1977A, shall be powers, remedies, 

8 and procedures this title provides to the Commis9 sion, or any person, alleging such a practice (not an 

10 employment practice specifically excluded from cov11 erage under section 1977A(a)(1) of the Revised 

12 Statutes of the United States). 

13 (c) EMPLOYEES COVERED BY CONGRESSIONAL AC14 COUNTABILITY ACT OF 1995.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The powers, remedies, and 

16 procedures provided in the Congressional Account17 ability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) to the 

18 Board (as defined in section 101 of that Act (2 

19 U.S.C. 1301)), or any person, alleging a violation of 

20 section 201(a)(1) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 1311(a)(1)) 

21 shall be the powers, remedies, and procedures this 

22 title provides to that Board, or any person, alleging 

23 an unlawful employment practice in violation of this 

24 title against an employee described in section 


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1 201(2)(A)(iii), except as provided in paragraphs (2) 

2 and (3). 

3 (2) COSTS AND FEES.—The powers, remedies, 

4 and procedures provided in subsections (b) and (c) 

5 of section 722 of the Revised Statutes of the United 

6 States (42 U.S.C. 1988), shall be powers, remedies, 

7 and procedures this title provides to that Board, or 

8 any person, alleging such a practice. 

9 (3) DAMAGES.—The powers, remedies, and pro10 cedures provided in section 1977A of the Revised 

11 Statutes of the United States (42 U.S.C. 1981a), in12 cluding the limitations contained in subsection (b)(3) 

13 of such section 1977A, shall be powers, remedies, 

14 and procedures this title provides to that Board, or 

15 any person, alleging such a practice (not an employ16 ment practice specifically excluded from coverage 

17 under section 1977A(a)(1) of the Revised Statutes 

18 of the United States). 

19 (4) OTHER APPLICABLE PROVISIONS.—With re20 spect to a claim alleging a practice described in 

21 paragraph (1), title III of the Congressional Ac22 countability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.) 

23 shall apply in the same manner as such title applies 

24 with respect to a claim alleging a violation of section 

25 201(a)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 1311(a)(1)). 


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1 (d) EMPLOYEES COVERED BY CHAPTER 5 OF TITLE

2 3, UNITED STATES CODE.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The powers, remedies, and 

4 procedures provided in chapter 5 of title 3, United 

5 States Code, to the President, the Commission, the 

6 Merit Systems Protection Board, or any person, al7 leging a violation of section 411(a)(1) of that title, 

8 shall be the powers, remedies, and procedures this 

9 title provides to the President, the Commission, such 

10 Board, or any person, respectively, alleging an un11 lawful employment practice in violation of this title 

12 against an employee described in section 

13 201(2)(A)(iv), except as provided in paragraphs (2) 

14 and (3). 

15 (2) COSTS AND FEES.—The powers, remedies, 

16 and procedures provided in subsections (b) and (c) 

17 of section 722 of the Revised Statutes of the United 

18 States (42 U.S.C. 1988), shall be powers, remedies, 

19 and procedures this title provides to the President, 

20 the Commission, such Board, or any person, alleging 

21 such a practice. 

22 (3) DAMAGES.—The powers, remedies, and pro23 cedures provided in section 1977A of the Revised 

24 Statutes of the United States (42 U.S.C. 1981a), in25 cluding the limitations contained in subsection (b)(3) 


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1 of such section 1977A, shall be powers, remedies, 

2 and procedures this title provides to the President, 

3 the Commission, such Board, or any person, alleging 

4 such a practice (not an employment practice specifi5 cally excluded from coverage under section 

6 1977A(a)(1) of the Revised Statutes of the United 

7 States). 

8 (e) EMPLOYEES COVERED BY SECTION 717 OF THE

9 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The powers, remedies, and 

11 procedures provided in section 717 of the Civil 

12 Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16) to the 

13 Commission, the Attorney General, the Librarian of 

14 Congress, or any person, alleging a violation of that 

15 section shall be the powers, remedies, and proce16 dures this title provides to the Commission, the At17 torney General, the Librarian of Congress, or any 

18 person, respectively, alleging an unlawful employ19 ment practice in violation of this title against an em20 ployee or applicant described in section 

21 201(2)(A)(v), except as provided in paragraphs (2) 

22 and (3). 

23 (2) COSTS AND FEES.—The powers, remedies, 

24 and procedures provided in subsections (b) and (c) 

25 of section 722 of the Revised Statutes of the United 


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1 States (42 U.S.C. 1988), shall be powers, remedies, 

2 and procedures this title provides to the Commis3 sion, the Attorney General, the Librarian of Con4 gress, or any person, alleging such a practice. 

5 (3) DAMAGES.—The powers, remedies, and pro6 cedures provided in section 1977A of the Revised 

7 Statutes of the United States (42 U.S.C. 1981a), in8 cluding the limitations contained in subsection (b)(3) 

9 of such section 1977A, shall be powers, remedies, 

10 and procedures this title provides to the Commis11 sion, the Attorney General, the Librarian of Con12 gress, or any person, alleging such a practice (not an 

13 employment practice specifically excluded from cov14 erage under section 1977A(a)(1) of the Revised 

15 Statutes of the United States). 

16 (f) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘Commis17 sion’’ means the Equal Employment Opportunity Commis18 sion. 

19 SEC. 208. DISPARATE IMPACT. 

20 (a) GENERAL RULE.—Notwithstanding any other 

21 provision of this Act, ‘‘disparate impact’’, as that term is 

22 used in section 703(k) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

23 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–2(k)), on the basis of genetic informa24 tion does not establish a cause of action under this Act. 


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1 (b) COMMISSION.—On the date that is 6 years after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, there shall be estab3 lished a commission, to be known as the Genetic Non4 discrimination Study Commission (referred to in this sec5 tion as the ‘‘Commission’’) to review the developing 

6 science of genetics and to make recommendations to Con7 gress regarding whether to provide a disparate impact 

8 cause of action under this Act. 

9 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be 

11 composed of 8 members, of which— 

12 (A) 1 member shall be appointed by the 

13 Majority Leader of the Senate; 

14 (B) 1 member shall be appointed by the 

15 Minority Leader of the Senate; 

16 (C) 1 member shall be appointed by the 

17 Chairman of the Committee on Health, Edu18 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; 

19 (D) 1 member shall be appointed by the 

20 ranking minority member of the Committee on 

21 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 

22 Senate; 

23 (E) 1 member shall be appointed by the 

24 Speaker of the House of Representatives; 


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1 (F) 1 member shall be appointed by the 

2 Minority Leader of the House of Representa3 tives; 

4 (G) 1 member shall be appointed by the 

5 Chairman of the Committee on Education and 

6 Labor of the House of Representatives; and 

7 (H) 1 member shall be appointed by the 

8 ranking minority member of the Committee on 

9 Education and Labor of the House of Rep10 resentatives. 

11 (2) COMPENSATION AND EXPENSES.—The 

12 members of the Commission shall not receive com13 pensation for the performance of services for the 

14 Commission, but shall be allowed travel expenses, in15 cluding per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates au16 thorized for employees of agencies under subchapter 

17 I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while 

18 away from their homes or regular places of business 

19 in the performance of services for the Commission. 

20 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.— 

21 (1) LOCATION.—The Commission shall be lo22 cated in a facility maintained by the Equal Employ23 ment Opportunity Commission. 

24 (2) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.— 

25 Any Federal Government employee may be detailed 


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1 to the Commission without reimbursement, and such 

2 detail shall be without interruption or loss of civil 

3 service status or privilege. 

4 (3) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

5 The Commission may secure directly from any Fed6 eral department or agency such information as the 

7 Commission considers necessary to carry out the 

8 provisions of this section. Upon request of the Com9 mission, the head of such department or agency 

10 shall furnish such information to the Commission. 

11 (4) HEARINGS.—The Commission may hold 

12 such hearings, sit and act at such times and places, 

13 take such testimony, and receive such evidence as 

14 the Commission considers advisable to carry out the 

15 objectives of this section, except that, to the extent 

16 possible, the Commission shall use existing data and 

17 research. 

18 (5) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Commission may 

19 use the United States mails in the same manner and 

20 under the same conditions as other departments and 

21 agencies of the Federal Government. 

22 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after all of the 

23 members are appointed to the Commission under sub24 section (c)(1), the Commission shall submit to Congress 

25 a report that summarizes the findings of the Commission 


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1 and makes such recommendations for legislation as are 

2 consistent with this Act. 

3 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to the Equal Employ5 ment Opportunity Commission such sums as may be nec6 essary to carry out this section. 

7 SEC. 209. CONSTRUCTION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this title shall be con9 strued to— 

10 (1) limit the rights or protections of an indi11 vidual under any other Federal or State statute that 

12 provides equal or greater protection to an individual 

13 than the rights or protections provided for under 

14 this title, including the protections of an individual 

15 under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 

16 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) (including coverage af17 forded to individuals under section 102 of such Act 

18 (42 U.S.C. 12112)), or under the Rehabilitation Act 

19 of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.); 

20 (2)(A) limit the rights or protections of an indi21 vidual to bring an action under this title against an 

22 employer, employment agency, labor organization, or 

23 joint labor-management committee for a violation of 

24 this title; or 


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1 (B) provide for enforcement of, or penalties for 

2 violation of, any requirement or prohibition applica3 ble to any employer, employment agency, labor orga4 nization, or joint labor-management committee the 

5 enforcement of which, or penalties for which, are 

6 provided under the amendments made by title I; 

7 (3) apply to the Armed Forces Repository of 

8 Specimen Samples for the Identification of Remains; 

9 (4) limit or expand the protections, rights, or 

10 obligations of employees or employers under applica11 ble workers’ compensation laws; 

12 (5) limit the authority of a Federal department 

13 or agency to conduct or sponsor occupational or 

14 other health research that is conducted in compli15 ance with the regulations contained in part 46 of 

16 title 45, Code of Federal Regulations (or any cor17 responding or similar regulation or rule); 

18 (6) limit the statutory or regulatory authority 

19 of the Occupational Safety and Health Administra20 tion or the Mine Safety and Health Administration 

21 to promulgate or enforce workplace safety and 

22 health laws and regulations; or 

23 (7) require any specific benefit for an employee 

24 or member or a family member of an employee or 

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1 surance issuer offering group health insurance cov2 erage in connection with a group health plan. 

3 (b) GENETIC INFORMATION OF A FETUS OR EM4 BRYO.—Any reference in this title to genetic information 

5 concerning an individual or family member of an indi6 vidual shall— 

7 (1) with respect to such an individual or family 

8 member of an individual who is a pregnant woman, 

9 include genetic information of any fetus carried by 

10 such pregnant woman; and 

11 (2) with respect to an individual or family 

12 member utilizing an assisted reproductive tech13 nology, include genetic information of any embryo le14 gally held by the individual or family member. 

15 SEC. 210. MEDICAL INFORMATION THAT IS NOT GENETIC 

16 INFORMATION. 

17 An employer, employment agency, labor organization, 

18 or joint labor-management committee shall not be consid19 ered to be in violation of this title based on the use, acqui20 sition, or disclosure of medical information that is not ge21 netic information about a manifested disease, disorder, or 

22 pathological condition of an employee or member, includ23 ing a manifested disease, disorder, or pathological condi24 tion that has or may have a genetic basis. 


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1 SEC. 211. REGULATIONS. 

2 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

3 of this title, the Commission shall issue final regulations 

4 to carry out this title. 

5 SEC. 212. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

6 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

7 as may be necessary to carry out this title (except for sec8 tion 208). 

9 SEC. 213. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

10 This title takes effect on the date that is 18 months 

11 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

12 TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 

13 PROVISIONS 

14 SEC. 301. GUARANTEE AGENCY COLLECTION RETENTION. 

15 Clause (ii) of section 428(c)(6)(A) of the Higher 

16 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078(c)(6)(A)) is 

17 amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘(ii) an amount equal to 23 percent of 

19 such payments for use in accordance with sec20 tion 422B, except that beginning October 1, 

21 2007, and ending September 30, 2008, this 

22 subparagraph shall be applied by substituting 

23 ‘22 percent’ for ‘23 percent’.’’. 

24 SEC. 302. SEVERABILITY. 

25 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 

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1 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti2 tutional, the remainder of this Act, the amendments made 

3 by this Act, and the application of such provisions to any 

4 person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby. 

Passed the House of Representatives April 25, 2007. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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Calendar No. 125 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 493 

AN ACT 

To prohibit discrimination on the basis of genetic 

employment. information with respect to health insurance and 

APRIL 30, 2007 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 


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