GINA passes House, but still faces opposition

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) passed the House yesterday, but still faces some opposition: Last year, GINA cleared in the House with ease, passing with a vote of 420 for and 3 against, but Rep. Thomas Coburn placed a hold on the bill in committee "because he was particularly concerned about legal protections for employers and for health insurance companies." We blogged about this last year, asking where is the outrage?

This year, 11 senators, including Coburn, are resisting passage of the act because they are arguing that the current draft of GINA should be amended to "provide clarity to the health insurance industry, maintain the integrity of the underwriting process, and ensure accurate premium assessments,” the senators stated. They also are concerned about employers’ liability from the “inadvertent” collection of genetic data.

The full story from the Genome Web here. (registration required, but free)