Senator Jack Poore introduced Senate Bill 70 to the Health and Social Services Committee, proposing that licensed genetic counselors be permitted to order genetic tests without a physician co-signature.

Supporters — including physicians, hospital systems and genetic counselors — told the committee the change would reduce delays in care, improve selection of appropriate tests and lower costs by avoiding unnecessary or duplicate testing. They said the change aligns Delaware with about 17 other states that have enacted similar licensure or scope-of-practice laws.

Doctor Nick Petrelli, director of the Center for Translational Cancer Research at the Cancer Center (formerly medical director of the Helen Graham Cancer Center at Christiana Care), told the committee that genetic counseling and targeted testing have contributed to decreases in cancer incidence and mortality in Delaware over two decades. Petrelli said genetic counselors’ detailed family-history work and training make them better positioned than most physicians to select the right test for a patient and to interpret the results appropriately.

Chelsea Kois, a genetic counselor in cardiology at Nemours Children’s Hospital Delaware Valley, and Louise Amlee Wolf and Krista Kroll Busch (both Nemours genetic counselors) described their education, certification and daily practice. Kois and other counselors said requiring a physician to sign orders introduces delays and administrative duplication; they testified that allowing counselors to directly order tests would streamline workflows and free physicians and advanced-practice providers to focus on treatment.

Carling Ryan of the Delaware Health Care Association and Dr. Richard Henderson of the Medical Society of Delaware expressed organizational support, saying the change would increase access and align testing with evidence-based, coordinated care.

Committee members asked about insurance implications. Zora (a genetics clinician) and other witnesses explained that the federal Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) protects health insurance and employment from discrimination based on genetic information but does not cover life insurance or disability insurance. Senator Hansen raised concerns that testing results could affect eligibility or premiums for life or disability policies and suggested follow-up legislation might be needed to address those gaps.

Senator Poore and witnesses emphasized that the bill would not allow genetic counselors to order tests without communicating with the referring physician; testimony repeatedly described the change as streamlining collaborative, physician-coordinated care rather than replacing physician involvement.

The committee heard multiple in-person and virtual testimonies in favor, including from hospital-based genetic counselors who said their programs have reduced costs and provided faster diagnoses in pediatric oncology and other specialties. Witnesses cited specific examples of reduced delays in care for children with cancer where timely testing affects treatment choices.

Chair Senator Pinkney said she would circulate the bill for signatures so it could be released from committee; the transcript records no formal committee vote during the session. Committee members indicated interest in follow-up work on insurance protections for genetic information.

No formal committee action or final disposition was recorded in the transcript; the committee accepted written comments to be filed in the public record.