<Li> House agreed to Senate amendment on May 1, 2008 (414 - 1) </Li> <Li> Signed into law by President George W. Bush on May 21, 2008 </Li> <P> The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110--233, 122 Stat. 881, enacted May 21, 2008, GINA, pronounced Jee - na), is an Act of Congress in the United States designed to prohibit some types of genetic discrimination . The act bars the use of genetic information in health insurance and employment: it prohibits group health plans and health insurers from denying coverage to a healthy individual or charging that person higher premiums based solely on a genetic predisposition to developing a disease in the future, and it bars employers from using individuals' genetic information when making hiring, firing, job placement, or promotion decisions . Senator Ted Kennedy called it the "first major new civil rights bill of the new century ." The Act contains amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 . </P> <P> In 2008, on April 24 H.R. 493 passed the Senate 95 - 0 . The bill was then sent back to the House of Representatives and passed 414 - 1 on May 1; the lone dissenter was Congressman Ron Paul . President George W. Bush signed the bill into law on May 21, 2008 . </P>

What is the purpose of the gina law