GINA…do you still remember the details involved with the important legislation? On May 21, 2008, former President Bush signed into law the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). This legislation will protect Americans against discrimination based on their genetic information as it relates to health insurance and employment. The measure was debated in Congress for the better part of 13 years, yet the Senate passed it unanimously and the House by a vote of 414 to 1.
GINA not only prohibits discrimination based on genetic information in health care, but in employment by prohibiting the intentional acquisition of genetic information about applicants and employees and imposes strict confidentiality requirements. Under GINA, employers will be unable to use genetic information in making decisions related to any terms, conditions, or privileges of employment.
In the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the EEOC proposed to amend some of its existing regulations to include references to Title II of GINA. Comments must have been received by July 20, 2009. All comments received are posted to http://www.regulations.gov, and will remain until the Commission publishes the rule in its final form.
Following the revision of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking based on the public comments, the Commission then takes a vote on the Final Rule. As approved by the Commission, the Final Rule passes through the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), as well as other Federal agencies before it is published in the Federal Register. It is speculated by the EEOC that the Final Rule implementing Title II of GINA will be published “well in advance of the law’s effective date of November 21, 2009”.
Check back for more details as the effective date draws near. We will have all of the most up-to-date information available as it releases.