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March 25, 2004
HDSA Legislative Alert
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2003
On October 14, by a unanimous vote 95-0, the Senate passed the Genetic Information Non discrimination Act of 2003 (s.1053). The Act was passed in order to insure that individuals affected by a genetic disease would not be discriminated against in health insurance and employment. As was written in the Statement of Administration Policy, (s.1053) “would bar health insurers from denying coverage to a healthy individual or charging the person higher premiums based solely on a genetic predisposition to developing a disease in the future. The bill would also prohibit employers from using individuals’ genetic information when making hiring, firing, job placement, or promotion decisions.”
Although the bill received a unanimous vote in the Senate, (95-0 with 5 abstentions), it has yet to pass through the House and is currently held in Committee in the House Energy and Commerce Committee. While House Democrats overwhelmingly favor passage of the Genetic Information Non discrimination Act not many Republicans favor it.
Your help is needed now. Please take the time to contact your Congressional representative and urge them to support the Genetic Information Non discrimination Act, and make them aware of the impact their choice will have in the lives of so many people.
In order to find the names of the House representatives who support Genetic Non discrimination you can log on to www.house.gov. Under Legislative information click on ‘Find a bill or law’ icon. On the screen that appears type in the bill number, hr1910, and press enter. On the next screen click on the ‘Link to the Bill Summary and Status File’. Once you get to the page, scroll down and you will find a link ‘Cosponsors’, click on it. This list contains the names of all the representatives that have cosponsored the early bill for Genetic Non discrimination. If the name of your representative is not on it then please urge them to become a cosponsor of the new bipartisan bill s.1053. You may also thank those who have signed on to cosponsor the earlier bill for their support and efforts against genetic discrimination.
It is hard enough to live knowing you have a genetic disease, should we not try to make it easier to live with.
You have just received an HDSA BULLETIN. HDSA BULLETINS are swift way to communicate latest news in various areas that interest the extended HD community. As important news items are gathered, we aim to pass them on quickly to our leaders, committees, chapters, social workers and friends. Please feel free to forward these bulletins to other interested parties in their unedited form. To add or remove yourself from the HDSA BULLETIN mailing list, send an e-mail to hdsainfo@hdsa.org and make sure that the subject line reads “HDSA BULLETIN.” Be sure to include your name, e-mail address, and whether you want to be added, removed, or have a change of e-mail in the body of the message.
Kristine Ferrell
Marketing/Communications Coordinator
Huntington's Disease Society of America
158 West 29th Street, 7th Floor
New York, NY 1001-5300
(212) 242-1968, Ext 29
(212) 239-3430 Fax
www.hdsa.org
Posted by Dave at March 25, 2004 09:55 PM
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