On October 1, the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and Treasury issued an interim final rule with request for comments implementing Title I of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA). According to a press release issued by HHS, “the interim final rule will help ensure that genetic information is not used adversely in determining health care coverage and will encourage more individuals to participate in genetic testing, which can help better identify and prevent certain illnesses.”
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) also issued a notice of proposed rulemaking with a 60-day comment period that would modify the HIPAA Privacy Rule to clarify that genetic information is health information. The proposal would also prohibit the use and disclosure of genetic information by covered health plan for eligibility determinations, premium computations, applications of any pre-existing condition exclusions, and any other activities related to the creation, renewal, or replacement of a contract of health insurance or health benefits, according to an HHS press release.