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Honoring Illinois State Representative Donald Moffitt
Several genetic counselors and lobbyist Margaret Vaughn, along with his wife, Carolyn, met to honor Illinois State Representative Donald L. Moffitt on October 10th, 2016, for his efforts in helping us to achieve our licensure amendment, as well as his overall support of clinical genetics and the profession of Genetic Counseling in Illinois for many years.
Genetic Counselor Licensing ActThe Genetic Counselor Licensing Act became active on September 29th, 2004, and was successfully renewed early 2015. Complete information regarding Genetic Counselor licensing can be found here. The Illinois Society of Genetic Professionals has now successfully amended the Illinois Genetic Counselor Licensure Act to remove the requirement that a genetic counselor can provide genetic counseling services only “pursuant to a referral” from a physician, effective January 1st, 2017. For more information regarding the benefits to both physicians and patients of removing the referral requirement, please see the attached form. ISGP membership helps to ensure professional representation in state legislative matters concerning clinical genetics and the genetic counseling profession. This is achieved through the help of Carpenter Lipps & Leland LLP. For questions or concerns regarding Illinois genetic counseling licensure, please contact Lindsay Anderson of Carpenter Lipps & Leland LLP, at anderson@carpenterlipps.com or 312.777.4833 . |
Significant Events of 2019
As 2020 begins, we here at IGSP are excited to continue our work to foster the development and delivery of genetic services, research, and education in the State of Illinois.
We also are grateful for several impactful events in 2019:
- In February, we were able to hold a wonderful symposium at Northwestern Memorial Hospital that featured educational content on Integrating Consumer Genomics into Practice, Ethical Challenges in the Genetic Testing of Children, the patient perspective of an advocate with Usher syndrome, Designing Health Educational Materials in Genetic Counseling, and implementing Artificial Intelligence into genetic counseling practice via chatbots.
- On April 25th, the Illinois state government recognized DNA Day. We thank Representative Bob Morgan and Senator Iris Martinez for taking a lead in making this possible. With the rising role of genetics in medical care and daily life, DNA Day provides an important prompt for conversations about the role of genetics in our lives.
- On November 9th, Genetic Counselor Awareness Day was recognized by the Illinois state government. We thank Representatives Curtis Traver and Senator Iris Martinez for their help making that official recognition possible. This action helps bring attention to the important role genetic counselors play in modern medical care and as a growing, rewarding profession.
- July saw the signing of HB2189 by Governor Pritzker. This bill amended the Genetic Information Privacy Act to define direct-to-consumer testing results officially as “genetic testing” results and thus they cannot be used for health and life insurance underwriting decisions. It also amended the Act to prohibit sharing of personal data between direct-to-consumer testing companies and health or life insurance companies without customer consent. We are especially thankful to Representative Natalie Manley and Senator Jenifer Bertino-Tarrant for their work sponsoring the HB2189.
As genetic testing and technologies continue to advance in 2020, we look forward to working for genetics professionals and the public in Illinois. Please mark your calendars, our annual educational symposium will be held Friday, February 28th. We hope to see you there!