Manley Measure to Protect Private Consumer Information Passes House

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Natalie Manley, D-Joliet, is sponsoring House Bill 2189, which recently passed out of the Illinois House with overwhelming bipartisan support.

“Currently there are no protections prohibiting insurance companies from accessing data from genetic testing,” said Manley. “My legislation protects consumers’ private genetic information, to prevent it from being used against them by life insurance companies to deny them or hike their rates.”

Manley’s House Bill 2189 would explicitly prohibit ancestry and genetic testing companies from releasing information about a consumer to any health or life insurance agency without the consumer’s consent. Manley’s measure recently passed out of the Illinois House of Representatives with unanimous bipartisan support, and now moves to the state Senate for consideration.

“My legislation puts people first and protects their health and genetic data from being used against them by insurance companies. Companies like Ancentry.com and 23andMe have become very popular and they reveal great information about who we are and where our ancestors were from, but this proprietary information needs to be protected,” continued Manley. “I encourage the Senate to approve this legislation to protect Illinoisans that have participated in these voluntary genetic tests.”

For more information, please contact Rep. Manley’s constituent service office at RepManley@gmail.com or (815) 725-2741.