Senate Bill 976 – Genomics and Personalized Medicine Act of 2007 was introduced in the Senate March 23, 2007 by Senator Barack Obama. It is obvious that he did not write this bill but had an institution help or write in it’s entirety. It is a bill to secure the promise of personalized medicine for all Americans by expanding and accelerating genomics research and initiatives to improve the accuracy of disease diagnosis, increase the safety of drugs, and identify novel treatments. . Obama has sponsored a genetics-related bill twice in his approximately three years in the Senate; both times the legislation stalled in Senate committees. The reason that I have watched this bill is because in speaking with my doctor, he was told me that the Federal Government was not giving doctors the option of maintaining their records as they use to. This in it’s self raised an alarm for me. I had heard about the “wonderful database that would allow a patient to receive medical treatment anywhere in the US. Your medical records would be only a step away and it would eliminate a lot of the medical questions and provide you with proper treatment almost immediately.†Now, I’m not one to count on my government for treatment of anything, but had wondered about some of the genetics testing I was hearing about. I have been digging even deeper and found an interesting thing called Washington G-2 Reports. Who ever heard of that! It starts April 9, 2007. Bipartisan bills recently introduced in the Senate have sharpened the legislative focus on federal regulation of genetic testing. Both agree that some level of oversight is needed in this fast-growing—and promising—diagnostics and therapeutics market, but the bills diverge on what that level should be and who should enforce it. The bills are: • S. 736, the Laboratory Test Improvement Act, sponsored by Edward Kennedy (D-MA), chairman of the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee, with ranking Republican Gordon Smith (OR) as co-sponsor, and • S. 976, the Genomics & Personalized Medicine Act, sponsored by Barack Obama (D-IL), with co-sponsor Richard Burr (R-NC), both members of the HELP Committee. Clinical laboratory and pathology organizations warn that more federal oversight could impede progress in personalized medicine based on genomics. Lab-developed tests (LDTs) make up a large portion of this work, the groups note, including in-house developed tests and in-house modifications of approved kits. And LDTs already are regulated for analytic validity under the highest CLIA category for lab test performance (high complexity), they note. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has introduced a bill to increase federal involvement in genetic testing and genomics, with the aim of promoting scientific advances and their use in personalized medicine. NYT: SEC allows shareholders to vote on proposals for universal health coverage.

Well, I’ll be darn. Now we have the Securities and Exchange Commission involved in “OUR HEALTH CARE?†Let me give you my explanation. The companies have assets posted as well as debits. This gives a company a rating for the Stock Exchange Trading. If the companies have to include the cost of insurance for employees it will be posted as a debit, thereby reducing the assets and possibly the rating of a company, I personally think that most companies are overrated and inflated. This gives the stockholders a very good rate of return on their investment. Now, where I have a big difference is in the concept of stockholders having a vote on the health care issue of the employees. I not sure just how that works. Does it mean that stockholders and companies can determine what kind of healthcare package, as well as the cost, is offered to the employees. Do they have the option of offering a lesser package based solely on cost? What percentage of the package will the employee have to pay? What benefits will be covered? Do employees have any input since they are not board members or stockholders? Who mandates the criteria for these insurance policies. THE GOVERNMENT? THIS BILL? “PRESIDENT†OBAMA? This could get very interesting and quite controversial. IF THE EMPLOYEES EVER HEAR ABOUT IT. WILL THIS BE PART OF OBAMA’S HEALTHCARE PROGRAM FOR ALL OF US