Thursday, June 29, 2006
Although the state of Wisconsin's State Employee Group Health plan and its local government agenda might be setting novel records for cost savings, it also stands out as one that practices government-sanctioned bias. While the private sector, plus two of Madison's three hospitals, has adopted employee health insurance plan that comprise domestic partners of their employees, the state has dug in its heels.
Never mind that the estimated 1 percent boost in costs is dwarfed by the double-digit insurance price increases of recent years. Or that the fresh cost savings will have been some times that additional cost to make certain that state and local employees' families - all of them - have health insurance. Or the stubborn ignorance of the truth that many gay and lesbian state employees by now have family plan coverage due to having children - and that the state will not pay a penny more to add their now-uninsured partner and co-parent of those children. All of the Dane County HMOs participating in the state health plan already do so for employers outside of the plan.
If Sen. Alberta Darling needs to make the state plan good-looking to more local governments and the private sector, she must work to make it useful to meet the real requirements of their employees, and supporter for inclusion of domestic partners in the plan.
posted by kanth
@ 1:24 AM
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