(Note from Erin: Wow, looks like employers will be able to penalize you if you don’t hand over your DNA to them under the guise of “Wellness testing.” Since when do they care about your wellness? Orwell must not be just rolling over in his grave! He must be doing somersaults! Rip Orwell, you knew.)

Here’s the scoop on what’s happening:

  • A U.S. House committee approved a bill that would penalize employees who refused genetic testing
  • Last week, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce passed the bill, which allows employers get around the laws that protect workers’ genetic privacy and prohibit genetic discrimination.
  • Other house committees are still reviewing the bill but if it passes, it will enable employers to collect genetic and other health information through wellness programs. It would also allow employers to impose premium penalties on employees that opt not to participate.
  • But 70 groups, including AARP, House Democrats, March of Dimes, American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Women’s Law Center, sent the House committee a letter expressing their opposition to the bill.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has had to clarify wellness program rules before (because of conflicting provisions between the Affordable Care Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act) but this new bill would give employers more latitude in running wellness programs by requiring employees to undergo genetic testing and penalizing those who won’t. The obvious fear is that wellness program participants would be vulnerable to privacy invasion and discrimination based on their genetic information.

“Both the ADA and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) state that health information from wellness programs can be disclosed to employers only in aggregate terms. Both laws also require employers to explain to wellness program participants what health information is being collected, who will see it and for what purpose. But wellness programs could become a loophole in these laws, especially if the ACA as it stands is destabilized or repealed,” reports HR Dive.

Source: Washington Post