A ruling has been made on what has been called a landmark case in California. A federal judge has ruled that CalPERS must offer its long-term care insurance coverage to same-sex spouses and partners. Previous to this, CalPERS couldn’t do this because of the Defense of Marriage Act.
CalPERS stands for California Public Employee’s Retirement System. It is an organization that manages pension and health benefits for more than 1.6 million people. It covers retired state workers who were teachers, their spouses, and their families.
There was a short span of time when same-sex marriage was legally recognized in California. On May 15, 2008, the California Supreme Court decided that same-sex couples had the legal right to marry. On November 8, 2008, Proposition 8 passed. That amendment changed the California Constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman. On February 12, 2012, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional. The state is not currently preforming same-sex marriages, but, it could potentially do so in the future.
This situation leaves a group of people with some significant insurance coverage issues. There were several same-sex couples that got married during the brief span of time when same-sex marriage was legal in California. Their marriages are still considered legal by the state. This means that they are supposed to have the same rights and privileges as opposite-sex married couples have, (including with insurance coverage).
CalPERS had been denying coverage of long term care insurance coverage to same-sex spouses or domestic partners. That benefit pays for stays in nursing homes and assisted living centers. CalPERS had been offering other benefits to same-sex couples, but not the insurance benefits that opposite-sex couples were being offered.
The reason for this, according to CalPERS was due to a law that was established in 1996 called the federal Defense of Marriage Act, (also known as DOMA). CalPERS said that offering that coverage for same-sex couples would jeopardize the program’s tax-free status.
Recently U. S. District Judge Claudia Wilken struck down the portion of DOMA that defined marriage as between a man and a woman. She said that the ban on long-term care insurance “appears to be motived by anti-gay animus”. She also said that the provision in the federal law “violates the Constitution’s equal protection guarantee”.
CalPERS has responded to this ruling on their blog. CalPERS SEO Anne Strausboll said “We have been strongly advocating for the ability to administer our program for same-sex spouses and domestic partners and we welcome the ability to extend important benefits to all our members and their families.”
Image by KeithBurtis on Flickr