Megan Herber and Nisha Quasba Discuss Reintroduction of NSGC’s Genetic Counseling Bill

In January 2026, the U.S. Senate reintroduced the National Society of Genetic Counselors’ (NSGC) Access to Genetic Counselor Services Act (S. 3607), following reintroduction by the U.S. House in November 2025 (H.R. 6280). The bill would allow the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to recognize certified genetic counselors as health care providers, so they can receive payment for counseling Medicare beneficiaries.

GenomeWeb shared that, last year, NSGC requested proposals hoping to advance a "refreshed strategy" that will move the bill toward enactment, and that “NSGC hired Faegre Drinker Consulting to help raise the profile of its legislative priorities before a very divided Congress passing few bills.”

In an article for Precision Medicine Online in November 2025, Faegre Drinker Consulting principal Megan Herber and director Nisha Quasba discussed the efforts involved in reintroducing the bill.

Quasba shared that NSGC’s plan to reintroduce the bill this past fall was hindered by the recent government shutdown in November. “Our leads in Congress are very committed to the bill but not willing to introduce it during a government shutdown. Once government reopens, the bill is ready for primetime,” she asserted. 

Herber added that the next step for NSGC would be to explore interstate license portability. "It's a significant time and money investment,” she explained, “but we have experts on our team who have been through that process before, and so, we are helping inform that and see if it's something that NSGC wants to take on.”