HRC Blog

Yesterday, the Office of Personnel Management published a final rule in the Federal Register that permits the same-sex domestic partners of federal employees to utilize the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP). Unlike many other benefits for federal employees such as health insurance and retirement plans, the cost of FLTCIP is borne entirely by the employee, and thus opening up this program to same-sex partners did not require a statutory change. (HRC continues to work with our congressional leaders to pass the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, which would provide those important benefits.) Long term care insurance helps cover the cost of lengthy hospitalization, nursing care or other extended care that is usually not covered by traditional health insurance.

Like the nation's top private companies, colleges and universities are removing discriminatory transgender exclusions from their health insurance plans in order to provide more inclusive insurance for students and staff. On many campuses today, much of the activism is centered on transgender and genderqueer issues, such as adding gender identity to the school’s non-discrimination policy and implementing gender-neutral housing and locker room facilities. A newer area of focus is ensuring that health insurance policies provide transgender-inclusive coverage.

Dr. Laura Erickson-Schroth is working on “Trans Bodies, Trans Selves,” a resource guide for transgender and other gender-variant people. Last week, she took questions at the New York Times' City Room blog about transgender issues, and got one in particular about transgender-inclusive health insurance: