Congress gives final approval for genetic discrimination bill; Bush expected to sign

[question everything]

Source: SF Chronicles

Zachary Coile, Chronicle Washington Bureau

Thursday, May 1, 2008

(05-01) 15:20 PDT Washington - --

The House gave final approval Thursday to a measure that would ban employers and health insurance plans from discriminating against people based on genetic tests that show they may be predisposed to heart disease, cancer or other conditions.

Supporters hailed the bill as the as the first major civil rights legislation of the 21st century, and said it would convince Americans to get tested and embrace new genetic treatments without fearing the information would be used to deny them their job or their health coverage.

(snip)

The bill passed with overwhelming support in House on a 414-1 vote, a week after being approved by a 95-0 vote in the Senate. The only member of Congress to vote against the bill was Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas. President Bush has promised sign it. But the nearly unanimous support for the measure masks a hard-fought 13-year fight to pass the bill. Health insurers and employers groups fought the measure vigorously, and ultimately secured some changes to the bill. House GOP leaders, who viewed some provisions as anti-business, blocked it from reaching the floor until Democrats took power last year.

(snip)

The National Institutes of Health reported that 32 percent of women offered a genetic test to determine their risk of breast cancer declined because they worried they would lose their health insurance. An NIH study of families with a history of colon cancer found that 68 percent said they would not bill the test to their insurer for fear of losing coverage and 26 percent would test using an alias.



Read more: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/01/BAI910F6TO.DTL

---

Why would Ron Paul be against it?

Oh, I know. Libertarians do not not like government involved in anything... until they need help..

[OwnedByFerrets]

1. Im actually surprised that

monkeyboy is going to sign this into law. It involves science and he hates anything to do with that.

[Robb]

2. I know. I've been trying very hard

to figure out the downside to this bill. Because there has to be one with the support it's getting.

[Faygo Kid]

5. I can only figure it's a step to eliminating employer health care, and to privatize

Bush never does the right thing. Never. And this is the right thing to do.

Look for him to come back and say that with this recommendation, tax deductions instead of universal or employer-based health care should have a clear road.

He's up to something.

[jeff30997]

8. "He's up to something"

Yeah.I agree with you.There's something going on here.Very suspicious.

[Mojorabbit]

14. No downside

Companies will make up a reason for denial that has nothing to do with the real reason which will be the genetic test results. Too easy to scam people as almost impossible to prove what the real reason was.

[Turbineguy]

16. He's had the tests

he found out he's going to turn into a drooling incontinent and he wants us to pay for it.

[bluestateguy]

3. Ron Paul shows what a troll he is

In Libertarian America, corporations would run the world.

[thunder rising]

6. corporations, militias, and gangs

[fascisthunter]

10. The NRA is Loving It

Guess who is buying most of the guns.... the right wing.

[khaos]

7. maybe he read beyond the title

[Endangered Specie]

4. Is it any wonder that the party of anti-Semites (Libertarians)

wouldn't approve of any bill that doesnt allow discrimination based on your genetics....

come on now... it aint that hard to connect *those* dots.

[jeff30997]

9. Libertarians are anti-Semites ?

Honest question Endangered Specie.I'm Canadian and I'm not very familiar whit the Libertarians.

Can you give me some infos or links?

[Endangered Specie]

15. Read some of alex jones' work

like infowars and the such

Also, if you check out hate sites like stormfront, you'll find alot of people there support Ron Paul or are some form of extreme libertarianism.

Has to do with the whole "Jews want to control the world", "Jews caused 9/11" etc...

[BadgerKid]

11. Based on GENETIC tests

Of course, other means of spying...er....gathering of information still applies. :(

[jmowreader]

12. I think I've figured out why Shrub is going to sign this bill

Given the fractious nature of this Congress, you probably couldn't get unanimous consent on a resolution that says water is wet.

If Bush vetoed this bill, and you know he wants to, the veto would be overturned in an instant. As things stand right now, Bush has lost exactly one veto fight and he doesn't want to lose any more.

The approach he's going to take is to attach a signing statement which effectively keeps anyone from having to comply with the bill until someone can force a suit into the Supreme Court where the GOP's handpicked cronies will overturn it. This will happen by September, just in time for every GOP congressional challenger to gin up an ad showing how terrible it was for //insert congressman or senator's name here// to waste time passing an unconstitutional bill.

[Honeycombe8]

13. This bill won't mean much, IMO. All insurer has to do is find SOME other reason to reject....

the person. Oh, it wasn't his genetic test that we based our insurance rejection on, nosirree! It was...er....let's see, now....er....oh, here's something....he smoked for 25 years before he quit, and his father died younger than 72 because of a heart attack which our statistics show was probably related to his father's prior smoking habit. Yeah, that's it.

Big deal.

So why is Bush signing something that on the face of it seems to regulate a big corporation? Because it doesn't really do anything, and it furthers Bush's push for GETTING MEDICAL RECORDS ELECTRONIC-IZED, so that insurance companies and employers can, at the click of a mouse, find out about someone's, anyone's, entire medical history. Including genetic tests. Including references to past abortion. Including references to AIDS, or "gay" lifestyle. Including references to bad habits like smoking or drinking.

But they would need a subpoena to gain access? No, not if the snooper is a care provider, like any doctor the person has ever seen. Or any insurance company. And we all know by now that the government illegally spies on its citizens.

I see it coming. Every single facet of our lives, our relationships, our assets, our liabilities, our mental state, our physical bodies....will be scrutinized by the government, by medical providers, by employers. Big Brother is here.