Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
LGBT
Related: About this forumAlaska says state employees' same-sex partners must marry to keep health care
Last edited Fri Sep 18, 2015, 08:50 AM - Edit history (1)
This sounds to me like equal treatment.
Alaska says state employees' same-sex partners must marry to keep health care
Nathaniel Herz | September 16, 2015
[email protected]
http://twitter.com/nat_herz
State of Alaska employees and retirees with same-sex partners would have to marry by the end of the year for those partners and their children to keep their state health coverage under a rules change proposed Wednesday by the state Department of Administration.
The department on Wednesday issued a public notice about the proposal and a public comment period, which comes after a U.S. District Court judge last year invalidated Alaskas same-sex marriage ban and a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in late June that guaranteed same-sex marriage rights. At last count, the state covered 44 same-sex partners of active employees and 70 same-sex partners of retirees, department spokesman Andy Mills, said in an email.
A union health care plan that covers 8,000 state employees and a total of 17,000 people, including spouses and children, made a similar change in early June, with the plans board chair saying the goal was to treat all couples equally. State officials said at the time they wanted to wait to make any changes until after the Supreme Court ruling.
Following the decision, the state is proposing the change to "ensure that all members in the states AlaskaCare plan are on equal footing regarding qualification requirements in order to receive state employee benefits," Mills said. When same-sex marriage wasnt an option in Alaska, the state allowed such couples to claim benefits as domestic partners. ... The state-run health care plan covers about 6,500 employees and 40,400 retirees, not including dependents.
[email protected]
http://twitter.com/nat_herz
State of Alaska employees and retirees with same-sex partners would have to marry by the end of the year for those partners and their children to keep their state health coverage under a rules change proposed Wednesday by the state Department of Administration.
The department on Wednesday issued a public notice about the proposal and a public comment period, which comes after a U.S. District Court judge last year invalidated Alaskas same-sex marriage ban and a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in late June that guaranteed same-sex marriage rights. At last count, the state covered 44 same-sex partners of active employees and 70 same-sex partners of retirees, department spokesman Andy Mills, said in an email.
A union health care plan that covers 8,000 state employees and a total of 17,000 people, including spouses and children, made a similar change in early June, with the plans board chair saying the goal was to treat all couples equally. State officials said at the time they wanted to wait to make any changes until after the Supreme Court ruling.
Following the decision, the state is proposing the change to "ensure that all members in the states AlaskaCare plan are on equal footing regarding qualification requirements in order to receive state employee benefits," Mills said. When same-sex marriage wasnt an option in Alaska, the state allowed such couples to claim benefits as domestic partners. ... The state-run health care plan covers about 6,500 employees and 40,400 retirees, not including dependents.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
3 replies, 1142 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (0)
ReplyReply to this post
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Alaska says state employees' same-sex partners must marry to keep health care (Original Post)
mahatmakanejeeves
Sep 2015
OP
Fair enough. When the Presbyterian Churches allowed for same-sex marriage,
Betty Karlson
Sep 2015
#1
Betty Karlson
(7,231 posts)1. Fair enough. When the Presbyterian Churches allowed for same-sex marriage,
they quickly followed up with: gay priests, marry your boyfriends! Sauce for the gander and the goose is sauce for two ganders!
BeeBee
(1,074 posts)2. I don't have a problem with this. As long as the rules are the same for everyone. n/t
One_Life_To_Give
(6,036 posts)3. That is mighty quick, where can you book a hall on such short notice?
I know there are alternatives but in the near term this may have caught some people off-guard. I would give them until 12/31/16