Some Massachusetts Employers Drop Health Benefits for Domestic Partners of Employees

Some employers in Massachusetts are dropping health insurance coverage for domestic partners as a result of the state's legalization of same-sex marriages earlier this year, the Boston Globe reports. Employers including IBM, Northeastern University, Boston Medical Center, Baystate Health System and the New York Times Co. have decided that because same-sex couples now have the option to marry, "they should no longer receive special treatment in the form of health benefits that were not made available to unmarried, opposite-sex couples," according to the Globe. In the state, companies' proportion of workers who sign up for domestic partner benefits ranges from less than 1% to 2%, and no data exists on how many employers in the state are planning to discontinue the benefits. Russell Isaia of the Bingham McCutchen law firm said employers that are dropping employer-sponsored health insurance for domestic partners are in the minority. Some companies changing the policy will drop domestic partner benefits on Jan. 1, and others will wait a year. Larry Emerson, Baystate's vice president of human resources, said, "We're saying if you're a same-sex domestic partner, you now have the same option heterosexuals have, so we have to apply the same rules to you." However, officials from Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders said removing domestic partner health care benefits is an unfair hardship because same-sex couples must pay taxes on their benefits since federal law does not recognize the marriages. "There are layers of discrimination," Michele Granda, a GLAD attorney, said, adding, "This is a civil rights battle, and it's going to take a matter of time but we are taking steps forward" (Blanton, Boston Globe, 12/8).