House Ways and Means Committee
On March 21, the House Ways and Means Committee approved, by voice vote, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) (H.R. 493), after adopting a substitute amendment, also by voice vote. The committee held a hearing on the measure on March 14 (see The Source, 3/16/07).
The substitute amendment by Chair Charles Rangel (D-NY) would: amend the Internal Revenue Service code to impose penalties on any group health plan that violated the provisions of GINA; prohibit Medicare supplemental plans, sometimes called Medigap, from discriminating against any enrollee on the basis of their genetic information; direct the secretary of Health and Human Services to revise the privacy regulations in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (P.L. 104-191) so that they conform to the provisions set forth in GINA; and amend the definition of “family member” in the measure to include adopted children.
House Energy and Commerce Committee
On March 22, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved, by voice, the same bill after adopting a substitute amendment by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ). The substitute amendment would, among other provisions, apply the protections of the bill to embryos and children in the process of being adopted. The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health approved the bill on March 13 (see The Source, 3/16/07).
During consideration of the bill, the committee defeated the following amendments:
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