Employees who decline genetic testing could face penalties under proposed bill

[spanone]

Employers could impose hefty penalties on employees who decline to participate in genetic testing as part of workplace wellness programs if a bill approved by a U.S. House committee this week becomes law.

In general, employers don't have that power under existing federal laws, which protect genetic privacy and nondiscrimination. But a bill passed Wednesday by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce would allow employers to get around those obstacles if the information is collected as part of a workplace wellness program.

Such programs — which offer workers a variety of carrots and sticks to monitor and improve their health, such as lowering cholesterol — have become increasingly popular with companies. Some offer discounts on health insurance to employees who complete health-risk assessments. Others might charge people more for smoking. Under the Affordable Care Act, employers are allowed to discount health insurance premiums by up to 30 percent — and in some cases 50 percent — for employees who voluntarily participate in a wellness program.

The bill is under review by other House committees and still must be considered by the Senate. But it has already faced strong criticism from a broad array of groups, as well as House Democrats. In a letter sent to the committee earlier this week, nearly 70 organizations — representing consumer, health and medical advocacy groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, AARP, March of Dimes and the National Women's Law Center — said the legislation, if enacted, would undermine basic privacy provisions of the Americans With Disabilities Act and the 2008 Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/03/11/employees-who-decline-genetic-testing-could-face-penalities-under-proposed-bill/?utm_term=.2c183daf8fb4

[Barack_America]

1. As a geneticist, I hate this bill. It's insane to me.

What I imagine they're going after here is to identify (and weed out, post-ACA) carriers of hereditary cancer syndromes, such as breast-ovarian cancer, BRCA, and maybe even disorders such as Huntington Disease.

What this will accomplish is to discourage people from being honest about their family disease risk, and a decrease in people confirming their genetic risk. Which will lead to later disease diagnosis, more death and, oh yeah, HIGHER healthcare costs to employers.

When you start to think of the increased mutation prevalence in certain populations and potential forced genetic testing based on reported (or supposed) ethnicity...this gets real dark real quick.

All to save a few bucks to employers in a failed healthcare model?

No.

[Ilsa]

2. I wonder how easy it will be to

Provide fraudulent samples once they start it?

[Igel]

5. Wouldn't that already be the case?

If you're at high risk for heart disease because your father died of it at age 55, would you put that on a wellness insurance-discount application?

What if you're type 2 diabetic and managing it by weight control and diet for now, but you know that in 10 pounds or 5 years you'll be injecting insulin? Would you volunteer that information to save money on your insurance if you didn't think you'd be caught pretty much immediately?

[Barack_America]

6. Diabetes and heart disease are complex disorders...

With many genes involved and much less certainty whether the identified "mutations" will cause disease in all, some, or no individuals. Even so, there are still tremendous contributions by lifestyle and dietary choices.

Inclusion of genetic disorders for multigenic conditions would make this much scarier.

[Ilsa]

3. Hitler and Mengele would be so pleased. NT

[dalton99a]

4. NEXT: Employees who decline screening for anti-Trump thoughts could face penalties