Genetic Discrimination Protection Bill Passes Senate Committee

May 21, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A US Senate committee has passed out a bill, which would protect individuals from discrimination in hiring, employment, and health insurance on the basis of genetic information.

>According to a news release from Senator Judd Gregg (R-New Hampshire), the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee unanimously green-lighted the measure on a voice vote Wednesday morning. Gregg is the committee chair.

“The legislation we are passing today fulfills the promise of the Human Genome Project. It establishes in federal law basic legal protections to enable and encourage individuals to take advantage of genetic screening, counseling, testing and new therapies,” Gregg said in a statement.

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>The announcement said the Genetics Non-Discrimination Act would:

  • protect against genetic discrimination from health plans and insurance companies
  • prohibit health insurance plans from denying an individual enrollment in the plan because of individual’s or family member’s genetic information
  • prohibit health insurance plans from charging higher premiums to individuals because of individual’s or family member’s genetic information
  • prohibit health insurance companies from basing premiums of a group health plan on genetic information of members (including family members) of the plan.

Large-Cap US Value Funds Enjoy Market Hey Day

May 20, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Domestic large-cap value funds are becoming the cat's meow as a still-developing broad market recovery pushed up industrial giants like General Electric Co., Citigroup Inc., and Xerox Corp.

While these funds – one of the most popular types of mutual funds among US investors – are up an average 14.9% over the past three months, that still trails the average diversified US stock fund’s 16.2%-increase during the same period, according to a Reuters report.   Large-company value managers say they see still more growth potential as corporate earnings are expected to improve and company cost-cutting measures take hold.

The best performer for the three months, based on funds with at least $100 million in assets, was the Neuberger Guardian fund, which exploded by   21.5%, according to Lipper data.

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The biggest fund in the category is the $48.2-billion American Funds Washington Mutual fund, according to Lipper. The fund was up 14.3% over the past three months.   Another big fund is the $11-billion Lord Abbett Affiliated fund which gained 16.5% in the three-month span, according to Lipper.

Robert Morris, director of equity investments for Lord Abbett, said the Affiliated Fund benefited from gains in companies such as Apple Computer Inc. which is up about 26.3% year-to-date through Monday and Xerox, up 29.2%.   “We’ve seen nice bounces in some selected technology stocks,” he told Reuters. “We are trying to find companies within the technology sectors that look live they’ve been overdone.”

Fund managers say that, after a rough 2002, when the average large-cap value fund fell about 20%, they are seeing a rebound in many stocks that had been hit hard.

Large-cap value funds have about $181.9 billion in combined assets, making them one of the largest types of US stock funds. Their price-conscious managers look for stocks that are considered cheap based on price-to-earnings ratios or other measures, or whose prices have been knocked down based on worries about restructuring or other issues.

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