Genetic Testing (employment, consent, and health insurance protections)
Iowa Genetic Testing Law
Genetic · Employees · Health · Financial
Iowa bans employers, employment agencies, unions, and licensing agencies from requiring or administering genetic tests or taking action based on them, and requires informed written consent before anyone obtains genetic samples or tests, collects, keeps, shares, or uses genetic information, with limited exceptions. Health insurers may not release genetic information without written authorization or use it for underwriting.
- Where
- Iowa
- Citation
- Iowa Code 729.6
- Status
- In force
- In force since
- 1992-07-01
- Last amended
- 2023-07-01
- Enforced by
- Civil actions by aggrieved individuals; injunctions may also be sought by the county attorney or Attorney General; the Commissioner of Insurance for the insurance provisions (unfair insurance trade practice under 507B.4)
- People can sue
- Yes
- Penalties
- Aggrieved employees, applicants, members, or licensees may sue for reinstatement or hiring, back pay, other equitable relief, attorney fees and costs; injunctions are available (729.6(8)). Insurance violations are unfair trade practices under 507B.4 (729.6(4)(d)).
- Applies to
- Employers (public and private), employment agencies, labor organizations, and licensing agencies (729.6(1)-(2))
- Any person who obtains genetic samples, performs genetic testing, or collects, retains, transmits, or uses genetic information (729.6(3))
- Health insurers and third-party administrators (729.6(4))
Practices it requires
- No retaliation against a person who in good faith files a complaint or testifies about violations.Iowa Code 729.6(7)
- Employers, employment agencies, labor organizations, and licensing agencies may not solicit, require, or administer a genetic test as a condition of employment, membership, or licensure, or penalize someone who obtains a genetic test.Iowa Code 729.6(2)(a)-(b)
- Obtain informed written consent before obtaining genetic information or samples, performing genetic testing, or collecting, retaining, transmitting, or using genetic information, subject to exceptions (other law, criminal investigations, identifying the dead, parentage, newborn screening, de-identified research).Iowa Code 729.6(3)
- Health insurers and third-party administrators may not release an individual's genetic information without prior written authorization for each disclosure.Iowa Code 729.6(4)(a) · Only if: Health insurer or TPA
- Health insurers may not discriminate based on genetic information, treat genetic propensity as a preexisting condition, or use genetic information for underwriting.Iowa Code 729.6(4)(b) · Only if: Health insurer
- No person may sell or interpret an employee's or applicant's genetic test for an employer, employment agency, labor organization, or licensing agency, and offers of pay or benefits for taking a genetic test are prohibited.Iowa Code 729.6(5)-(6)
Sources
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: Effective date 1992-07-01 (1992 Acts ch. 1059) and last amendment 2023-07-01 (2023 Acts ch. 19, state government reorganization, a technical change) are inferred from the section history note and the Iowa Code 3.7 default July 1 rule; the session laws were not opened. The main substantive amendments were in 2010 (2010 Acts ch. 1153).
Research reference, not legal advice.