 say "ahhhhhhhhhh."
Workers participating in so-called workplace wellness programs reportedly could be ordered to get genetic testing — and hand over the results — by their employers or face financial penalties, if a bill being pushed by congressional Republican becomes law.
That bill, passed by a House committee Wednesday, could end up as part of the second phase of planned Obamacare-replacement legislation, the STAT health-care news site reported Friday.
"What this bill would do is completely take away the protection of existing laws," Jennifer Mathis, director of policy and legal advocacy at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, told STAT.
The controversy revolves around disputes over the meaning of a 2008 federal law, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, as well as over administrative interpretations of the Affordable Care Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
GINA, opponents of the new bill say, as a rule bars employers from insisting on genetic testing of their workers, except if that testing is offered as part of a wellness program and is voluntary on the part of the worker.
But the new bill, sponsored by Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C if passed into law, would make it clear that employers who offered wellness programs, and require genetic testing as part of them, can legally charge workers who refuse the tests a higher price for health insurance than workers who accept the test.
Wellness programs, whose efficacy has been challenged, are intended to improve employee health by methods including screening for medical conditions and promoting smoking cessation.
The Affordable Care Act allows employers to charge workers at least 30 percent, and up to 50 percent, more for job-based health insurance if employees choose not to participate in a wellness program.
Foxx's office referred a request for comment on the bill to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce when contacted by CNBC. Foxx is chairwoman of that committee.
A committee spokeswoman said,," the spokeswoman said.
She said the law currently does allow employers to require workers participating in wellness programs to submit to genetic testing. However, opponents of Foxx's bill, including the American Society of Human Genetics, dispute that interpretation.
The spokeswoman Foxx's committee pointed to a fact sheet on the bill, which said it "reaffirms existing law to allow employee wellness programs to be tied to responsible financial incentives."
"H.R. 1313 would bring uniformity to the regulation of wellness programs and clarify that such programs are consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act," that sheet said.
Read the STAT News story here.<filename>repository/AdminLTE-Core-Widgets.package/AdminLTEBoxWidget.class/instance/embeddedComponent..st
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   embeddedComponent := anObjectThere are so many things that beep in our house. Several times, when we were watching episodes of Bones, I could hear beeping, and I kept pausing the show to see which appliance needed our attention. We finally figured out that in one of the character's labs there was a background of random beeps. It still annoys the heck out of me!
but at least you FOUND it. The most irritating is to hear it vaguely but be unable to source it.
oi, to just find some peace and quiet!
I was at work on Thursday, trying to get through the day before the battery in the cordless mouse gave up. It gave up 30 minutes early (of course) and I could.NOT get the darn battery out to change it. I finally had to call my son 2 miles away to ride his bike and help me. He had it taken care of lickety split.
If he had laughed at me, I would have made him ride home on his bike. Uphill. In 98 degree heat.
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Energy Entertainments Youtube Channel –On behalf of Zero Link Markets, Inc. (dba Vinoshipper.com), we appreciate the opportunity to comment on the pending regulations to review what is a ninety-year-old mandated system. As one of the premier e-commerce platforms for direct-to-consumer wine sales, we represent more than 2,500 small and medium-sized wineries throughout the United States. We have been providing these services for over fifteen years and have built a platform that makes every sale compliant and has traceability of every parcel that is sent, this is what technology can do today in a modern commerce era.
Equally, it is very important that we support our small agricultural businesses that ultimately provide these products to the market. States benefit as well; they are benefiting directly from their producers bringing both direct employment and taxes to the state and the growth and expansion in related hospitality businesses. For example, the impact of wine-related tourism contributed $893.6 million in revenues to the Oregon economy in 2019, supporting 8,600 jobs and over $270 million in wages specific to wine-related travel in Oregon.
We view this as a historic opportunity to modernize our system of regulating the sale of wine, beer, and spirits.
Nearly 90-years-old, the three-tier system was created after the repeal of Prohibition and does not factor in important evolution since then, such as the complexity of markets, range of state and local regulations, technological developments, and consumer trends, all of which the post-COVID economy has underscored the need for sweeping reform. When COVID-19 hit producer tasting rooms were closed and without direct-to-consumer and self-distribution (limited opportunities) channels the wineries would have gone out of business. Distilleries had to pivot to making hand sanitizer because they had no direct selling opportunities at all. A platform such as ours demonstrates the ability to democratize the sale of wine, allowing small rural businesses to survive and thrive during the pandemic. These businesses in large part are the ones that have been shut out from the wholesaler channel. It is time for all states to set one standard to allow for the direct sale and shipping of alcohol products.
The three-tier system, intended to correct anti-competitive market leverage by producers, has been eclipsed by major producers and wholesalers gaining a stronghold on markets, ultimately leading to a consolidation of wholesalers and large producers, resulting in less competition and higher prices for consumers. What wholesalers have referred to as “one of the most dynamic marketplaces in the world” for alcohol products suffers from the widespread influence of well-financed lobbyists protecting the status quo, markets that have historically and systemically worked against small and medium-sized producers.
There are 47 states currently open to some form of consumer direct shipping of wine and this has worked smoothly for some of the early-adopting states now for over twenty years. There is no reason that this cannot be expanded to spirits and beer and to trade sales as well. However, the influence of large producers and wholesalers and their associated lobbying is continuously building walls around the system, that are both unnecessary, costly to enforce, and lead to anti-competitive behavior.
Wholesalers have gone to great lengths to make it difficult for small and medium producers to thrive, including the creation of unfounded questions as to the risk of online sales, lack of tax collection, underage access, and a need for a wholesaler to deliver to a trade account. None of which are supported by any facts or figures. Moreover, wholesalers are currently advocating for eliminating any winery that produces less than one thousand gallons. An important article[i] written by Susan Lorde Martin (Cypres Family Distinguished Professor of Legal Studies in Business, Zarb School of Business, and Director of the Center for Teaching and Scholarly Excellence, Hofstra University) summarizes the state of the market as it is today. We have added a link to the article save reprinting the whole document.
There is also a lack of understanding by the wholesale tier as to how the producer market works and how the TTB licenses producers to operate. There is a move by the wholesale tier to create rules around who can produce, where it can be produced, and where it can be shipped from, but introducing this at the state level to override the structure created by the TTB.
The Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) represent 100 wholesalers covering all 50 states and who distribute 70% of