The House last month passed House Bill 286 unanimously. The bill, otherwise known as the Erika Byler Act, would prohibit discrimination in life insurance based on genetic characteristics, genetic information, or the result of any genetic test that is not in a medical record as a basis for an individual’s medical diagnosis or the basis of a medical diagnosis included in an individual’s pertinent family history.
In addition, this bill prohibits a person engaged in the business of life insurance from requesting, requiring, or purchasing information obtained from an entity providing direct-to-consumer genetic testing.
Ms. Byler is a former resident of Dover, Delaware who passed away at the very young age of 25 back in 2022, from Congenital Heart Failure. Prior to her death, she was a victim of genetics based discrimination due to her condition.
| HB 286 – The Ericka Byler Act – Banning Genetics-Based Discrimination in Life Insurance | Currrent Status – House Passed 37-0-4. Senate Banking, Business, Insurance & Technology 3/19/24 |
| House Sponsors – Spiegelman, Hilovsky, Collins, Gray, Hensley, Ramone, Smith // Heffernan, Baumbach, Bolden, Johnson, Morrison, Romer | Senate Sponsors – Hansen, Hoffner, Huxtable, Sokola, Walsh // Wilson |
| House Yes Votes – Baumbach Bush Carson Chukwuocha Cooke Dorsey-Walker Griffith Harris Heffernan Johnson Lambert Longhurst Lynn Matthews Minor-Brown Moore Neal Osienski Phillips Romer Schwartzkopf Williams Wilson-Anton // Collins Gray Hensley Hilovsky Jones-Giltner, Morris Postles Ramone Short Shupe Smith Spiegelman Vanderwende Yearick | Senate Yes Votes – |
| House No Votes – None | Senate No Votes – |
| House Absents or Not Voting – Bolden, Dukes, Parker Selby, Morrison | Senate Absent or Not Voting – |
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