Petition to Congress:
There is quite literally nothing more personal than someone’s genetic material. HR 1313 would allow employers to require employees to submit to genetic testing or else face a huge penalty on their health insurance. Not only is this a gross violation of privacy, but commercially available genetic testing is unregulated and scientifically unsound. Please vote no on HR 1313.
Imagine you just landed your dream job. It’s your first day: you’re meeting the team, filling out paperwork, and getting signed up for benefits.
Your boss tells you they have an employee wellness program. You can save money on your health insurance and even get paid for doing things like getting your blood pressure checked, going to the gym, and quitting smoking. Great!
Then you read the fine print — your employer requires you to submit to genetic testing or else you will have to pay 30% more on your health insurance.1 That will soon be legal if HR 1313, the Preserving Employer Wellness Programs Act, passes.
Tell Congress: Keep employers out of our DNA — vote NO on HR 1313.
HR 1313 is a huge invasion of privacy — not to mention scientifically unsound. According to top doctors and medical ethicists, there is no genetic test currently available that can help your doctor evaluate your health risks in a meaningful way.2
What’s more — the genetic testing industry is largely unregulated.3 Current commercially available tests are rife with inaccuracies, increasing the likelihood that genetic information can be misused to wrongfully penalize employees. It’s not hard to imagine employers using genetic testing to purge employees they think will cost them more money in health care costs.
Take a stand: Tell Congress to keep your boss away from your DNA.
Today, it is illegal under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) to discriminate against people in employment or for health insurance based on their genetic material. This law works because under the current regime, no one is required or economically coerced into DNA testing, and employers have no right to genetic results.
HR 1313 bill blows a wide hole through the spirit of GINA. If widespread workplace genetic testing is adopted as a result of this bill, it is just a matter of time before companies will use this information against employees to help its bottom line.
Workplace genetic testing is a gross invasion of privacy, and there is simply no need for it. There is too great a risk that the results of genetic tests will be misunderstood and misused.
Sign the petition: Tell Congress your boss has no right to your DNA. Vote no on HR 1313.
Sources:
1. Fortune, "It Might Soon Be Legal for Employers to Force you into a Genetic Test,” March 10, 2017.
2. Huffington Post, "Workplace Genetic Testing Isn't Just Unethical, it's Scientifically Unsound," March 14, 2017.
3. Ibid.