Continued Health Insurance
When a married heterosexual employee loses or leaves a job, employers are required to offer the employee – and his or her spouse – the opportunity to pay for continued health coverage for up to 18 months, under a federal law called the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986, or COBRA.
But when a gay or lesbian employee loses or leaves a job, federal law does not guarantee the employee the opportunity to purchase continued health coverage for a domestic partner, even if the employer-sponsored plan originally covered that partner. This is true even though it is the former employee, not the employer, who pays the premium for this temporary coverage.
Fortunately, some fair-minded employers have taken it upon themselves to extend health coverage to domestic partners of former employees. But until the federal law is updated to recognize same-sex couples, GLBT families cannot count on such protections in times of job transitions.
What HRC is Doing
The Human Rights Campaign is lobbies Congress for the guarantee of equal health care coverage under COBRA. HRC is urges Congress to require employers to provide COBRA coverage to any beneficiaries covered under an employee’s benefits plan, including a domestic partner; and encourage employers to offer continued coverage to all beneficiaries of their employee benefits plan.