House to approve anti-genetic discrimination bill
By JESSE J. HOLLAND – 3 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Genetic testing can make it easier to determine a person's risk of debilitating diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's, but many people worry that it also makes them targets for insurance rate increases and job loss.

A bill expected to pass Congress overwhelmingly and be signed into law by President Bush should provide some relief by prohibiting insurance and job discrimination by companies using genetic information.

The House was to vote on the legislation Thursday, one week after it passed the Senate on a 95-0 vote. The bill would bar health insurance companies from using genetic information to set premiums or determine enrollment eligibility. Similarly, employers could not use genetic information in hiring, firing or promotion decisions.

Researchers hope that will prompt more people to consider genetic testing, which they say could lead to early, lifesaving therapy for a wide range of diseases with hereditary links such as breast and prostate cancer, diabetes, heart disease and Parkinson's disease.

"We will never unlock the great promise of the Human Genome Project if Americans are too afraid to get genetic testing," said Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Ill., who sponsored the bill along with Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y.

Each person probably has six or more genetic mutations that place them at risk for some disease, according to the National Human Genome Research Institute. That does not means that a disease will develop, researchers said, just that the person is more likely to get it than someone without the genetic mutation.

"Since no one is born with perfect genes, each one of us is a potential victim of genetic discrimination," Slaughter said. "By prohibiting the improper use of genetic information, this bill encourages Americans to undergo the testing necessary for early treatment and prevention of genetic-based diseases."

Congressional efforts to set federal standards to protect people from genetic discrimination go back more than a decade, to a time when there were only a small number of genetic tests.

But now, with the mapping of the human genome in 2003, people have access to far more information about their hereditary disposition to such crippling afflictions as cystic fibrosis, Huntington's disease or Lou Gehrig's disease.

The bill number is H.R. 493.

On the Net:
For bill text: http://thomas.loc.gov