Washington, DC – The Senate today passed U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert’s (R-IL-13th) and U.S. Representative Louise Slaughter’s (D-NY-28th) Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) by a vote of 95 to 0.  This is the first time that both the House and Senate have passed legislation to prevent discrimination in employment and health insurance on the basis of a genetic test. 
 
            “Americans are now one step closer to sharing, at long last, in the benefits of our breakthrough genetic research,” said Biggert.  “Make no mistake: this bill will dramatically reduce health care costs while saving or extending human lives.”
 
            Identical to H.R. 1227, a bill Biggert introduced during the last Congress, GINA or H.R. 493, was introduced by Slaughter with Biggert as the lead Republican cosponsor.  Once enacted, it will prohibit the improper use of genetic information in workplace and insurance decisions.  Introduced with 143 bipartisan cosponsors, GINA passed the House last April by a vote of 420 to 3.  Because the bill has been amended from its original form, it will now be sent back to the House for a second vote before heading to the President’s desk.
 
            “We will never unlock the great promise of the Human Genome Project if Americans are too afraid to get genetic testing," said Biggert. "Without the protections offered by GINA, these fears will persist, research at National Institutes of Health (NIH) will slow, and Americans will never realize the benefits and health care savings of gene-based medicines.”
 
Studies show that 84% of Americans are concerned that health insurance companies would deny coverage based on genetic information, and 69% of Americans believe employers would deny them jobs because of genetic test results.
 
            On average, individuals carry dozens of genetic mutations. Thanks to new technologies resulting from the government’s investment of $3.7 billion in the Human Genome Project, there are over 1,236 predictive genetic tests that can determine if an individual has a high or low risk of suffering from specific diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s.  With this information, individuals can take steps to mitigate this risk.
 
            In January 2007, President Bush met with cancer researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to urge Congress to pass a bill that will ban employers and health insurers from discriminating on the basis of genetic testing results. “I really want to make it clear to the Congress that I hope they pass legislation that makes genetic discrimination illegal,” Bush said.

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