12 2 STA T .904PUBLIC LA W 110 – 2 3 3 —M A Y 21 , 200 8‘ ‘ AP P LIC A T I ON O FH IPAA REGU LATION S TO GENETIC INFOR M ATION ‘‘ S EC .1 1 80 . (a)I N G ENERAL. —The Se cr e t ar ys ha l lre vi se the H I PA A p rivacy re gu lati on (as d e f ined in su b section (b)) so it is consistent w ith the following
‘‘(1) Genetic infor m ation shall be treated as health informa - tion described in section 11 7 1( 4 )( B ). ‘‘( 2 ) The use or disclosure by a covered entity that is a group health plan , health insurance issuer that issues health insurance coverage, or issuer of a medicare supplemental policy of protected health information that is genetic information about an individual for underwriting purposes under the group health plan, health insurance coverage, or medicare supple- mental policy shall not be a permitted use or disclosure. ‘‘(b) D EFINITIONS.— F or purposes of this section: ‘‘(1) GENETIC INFORMATION
GENETIC TEST; FAMIL Y MEM B ER.—The terms ‘genetic information ’ , ‘genetic test’, and ‘family member’ have the meanings given such terms in section 27 9 1 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U .S. C . 3 00gg – 91), as amended by the Genetic Information N ondiscrimination Act of 2007. ‘‘(2) GROUP HEALTH PLAN; HEALTH INSURANCE CO V ERAGE; ME D ICARE SUPPLEMENTAL POLICY.—The terms ‘group health plan’ and ‘health insurance coverage’ have the meanings given such terms under section 2791 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–91), and the term ‘medicare supplemental policy’ has the meaning given such term in section 1882(g). ‘‘(3) HIPAA PRIVACY REGULATION.—The term ‘HIPAA pri- vacy regulation’ means the regulations promulgated by the Secretary under this part and section 2 6 4 of the Health Insur- ance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1320d–2 note). ‘‘(4) UNDER W RITING PURPOSES.—The term ‘underwriting purposes’ means, with respect to a group health plan, health insurance coverage, or a medicare supplemental policy— ‘‘(A) rules for, or determination of, eligibility (including enrollment and continued eligibility) for, or determination of, benefits under the plan, coverage, or policy; ‘‘(B) the computation of premium or contribution amounts under the plan, coverage, or policy; ‘‘(C) the application of any pre-e x isting condition exclu- sion under the plan, coverage, or policy; and ‘‘(D) other activities related to the creation, renewal, or replacement of a contract of health insurance or health benefits. ‘‘(c) PROCEDURE.—The revisions under subsection (a) shall be made by notice in the Federal R egister published not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this section and shall be effective upon publication, without opportunity for any prior public comment, but may be revised, consistent with this section, after opportunity for public comment. ‘‘(d) E NFORCEMENT.—In addition to any other sanctions or rem- edies that may be available under law, a covered entity that is a group health plan, health insurance issuer, or issuer of a medicare supplemental policy and that violates the HIPAA privacy regulation (as revised under subsection (a) or otherwise) with respect to the use or disclosure of genetic information shall be sub j ect to the Notice.F e d e ralR e g i s ter ,pub licatio n . D eadline. Ef fecti v e date. 42USC13 2 0 d –9 .
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