U.S. military practices genetic discrimination in denying benefits

[rodeodance]

Source: latimes




U.S. military practices genetic discrimination in denying benefits

Those medically discharged with genetic diseases are left without disability or retirement benefits. Some are fighting back.

By Karen Kaplan
August 18, 2007



Eric Miller's career as an Army Ranger wasn't ended by a battlefield wound, but his DNA.

Lurking in his genes was a mutation that made him vulnerable to uncontrolled tumor growth. After suffering back pain during a tour in Afghanistan, he underwent three surgeries to remove tumors from his brain and spine that left him with numbness throughout the left side of his body.

So began his journey into a dreaded scenario of the genetic age.

Because he was born with the mutation, the Army argued it bore no responsibility for his illness and medically discharged him in 2005 without the disability benefits or health insurance he needed to fight his disease.


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-genes18aug18,1,4691293.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=8&cset=true

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This type of discrimination has been warned about but I really have not keep up with what is going on in the insurance field related to this.

[rodeodance]

1. unless you are a Fed employee----you are NOT protected either!

Congress took action in 1996, banning genetic discrimination in group health plans, and in 2000, President Clinton signed an executive order forbidding the practice against the federal government's nearly 2 million civilian employees. Similar laws against genetic discrimination swept through 31 states.

Congress is working to extend the federal law with the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, which would protect people with individual medical policies. The act has passed the House and awaits a vote in the Senate.

[jody]

3. Why doesn't Clinton's Executive Order 13145 cover military personnel?

Executive Order 13145 to Prohibit Discrimination in Federal Employment Based on Genetic Information
February 8, 2000

By the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is ordered as follows:

Section 1. Nondiscrimination in Federal Employment on the Basis of Protected Genetic Information.

1-101. It is the policy of the Government of the United States to provide equal employment opportunity in Federal employment for all qualified persons and to prohibit discrimination against employees based on protected genetic information, or information about a request for or the receipt of genetic services. This policy of equal opportunity applies to every aspect of Federal employment.

1-102. The head of each Executive department and agency shall extend the policy set forth in section 1-101 to all its employees covered by section 717 of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2000e-16).

1-103. Executive departments and agencies shall carry out the provisions of this order to the extent permitted by law and consistent with their statutory and regulatory authorities, and their enforcement mechanisms. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shall be responsible for coordinating the policy of the Government of the United States to prohibit discrimination against employees in Federal employment based on protected genetic information, or information about a request for or the receipt of genetic services.

[AndyTiedye]

4. Bush** Probably Revoked It

[jody]

8. According to the Federal Register (link below), Executive Order 13145 has not been revoked

Executive Orders Disposition Tables William J. Clinton

[annabanana]

7. Anyone know which 19 States can discriminate based on DNA?. . n/t

[acmavm]

2. When it was said years ago that people would be discriminated against

because of genetic information that indicated a person carried the gene for the development of a particular disease, insurance companies and employers said they would never used that information to discriminate. Well, that was bullshit. And now our own government is disowning and abandoning people on genetic information.

Those of us who knew they were lying then are not surprised now.

[aquart]

5. So far as I'm concerned...anyone in our military

should never have a single medical worry no matter what the cause of the illness. Period. Once you have worn the uniform, you're covered. Of course, that should be true for every American, but since we're being pigs about it, there is just no excuse for giving our soldiers medical grief. None. Nada.

[sutz12]

6. Yet another case for universal health care.

:shrug: