MyHealthGuide Source:

• Definitions, Rules, More from Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 1/20/2011

• Regulations Under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008

• Q & A – EEOC Final Rule on Title II of GINA

On January 10, 2011, the final regulations under Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA II), which were issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, went into effect. The new regs apply to employers and prohibits the use of genetic information in employment, restricts employers from requesting, requiring, or purchasing genetic information, and strictly limits the disclosure of genetic information.

An employer can offer a financial inducement to individuals to provide genetic information through a health risk assessment as long as it is clear that the inducement will be made available whether the individual answers the genetic questions or not.

Highlights

• The program must be voluntary. The employer neither requires the disclosure of the information nor penalizes those who choose not to provide it. The individual must provide a knowing, voluntary, and written authorization.

• HRAs must offer optional GINA section, clearly stating that completing the section of the questionnaire seeking genetic information is purely optional and that any reward offered will be provided whether that portion is completed or not.

• Offered to all qualifying workers. Any wellness or disease management program offered to address a particular disease or condition must be offered to all qualifying workers, not just those who answered the genetic questions indicating risk for that disease.

• Incentives offered to all workers. Any incentives to participate in a wellness or disease management program must be available to all workers who qualify for the program — those who volunteered genetic information and those who did not.

• GINA access only to third party and provider. GINA information acquired by the wellness program must be used only as authorized by the employee within the wellness program, and is disclosed only to the employee (or family members receiving services), the licensed healthcare professional, and/or genetic counselor. No individually identifiable genetic information can be made available to the employer, including managers, supervisors, or others who make employment decisions.

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This entry was posted by cmonfils on Tuesday, January 25th, 2011 at 11:18 am and is filed under GINA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.