Health Care Bill + DOMA will screw GLBT community out of benefits they already have

nichomachus

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Wed Jun-10-09 12:23 PM
Original message

Health Care Bill + DOMA will screw GLBT community out of benefits they already have

The language in the health-care bill is pretty scary.

Text of Bill

SEC. 2709. EXTENSION OF DEPENDENT COVERAGE.
9��(a) IN GENERAL .�A group health plan and a health
10 insurance issuer offering group or individual health insur-
11 ance coverage that provides dependant coverage of chil-
12 dren shall make available such coverage for children who
13 are not more than 26 years of age.
14 ��(b) REGULATIONS .�The Secretary shall promul-
15 gate regulations to define the scope of the dependants to
16 which coverage shall be made available under subsection
17 (a).

And, because the "scope of dependents" will be determined at the federal level, DOMA will come into play -- and spouses and partners of GLBT people will be excluded from dependent coverage.

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damntexdem

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Wed Jun-10-09 12:57 PM
Response to Original message

1. Does the provision require coverage or limit it?

If the former without the latter, then existing coverage of spouses and partners would not be threatened. Nevertheless, even if the provision only requires coverage without limiting it, the application of DOMA will still ensure unequal treatment of GLBT people, in that the insurers would not be required to extend coverage.

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nichomachus

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Wed Jun-10-09 01:09 PM
Response to Reply #1

5. The key word here is "shall"

That is a strong word in the law -- and don't think the insurers -- and businesses -- won't hide behind it to say "Sorry, we're not allowed to offer this insurance to your partner."

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RufusTFirefly

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Wed Jun-10-09 01:01 PM
Response to Original message

2. Good catch. Very troubling loophole. K & R n/t

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zipplewrath

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Wed Jun-10-09 01:04 PM
Response to Reply #2

3. I agree

But at some point folks better watch out. The more the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT discriminates against the GLBT community, the harder it becomes to keep this out of the supreme court and an equal protection violation. As long as they're blaming it on the states, they've got some cover.

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TheWatcher

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Wed Jun-10-09 01:07 PM
Response to Original message

4. But, But, We Should be HAPPY with the Crumbs they are so generously allowing us to have

And cheer loudly and wave our pom-poms.

:sarcasm:

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Cleita

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Wed Jun-10-09 01:14 PM
Response to Original message

6. This is why you need single payer universal health care. Everyone is covered.

So spouses and partners as well as children will be covered. I don't know about this particular bill. I think it needs to be scrapped for HR676. We are having a call-a-thon today to Congress, the Senate and now the White House stating that we want single payer health care for everyone.

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