Wall Street Journal: Employers Tell Gays They Must Marry To Keep Partner Benefits

We've seen this here and there over the last few years, but it's apparently becoming more common. Via the Wall Street Journal:

Over the past decade, a growing share of companies has offered coverage for gay employees and their partners as a way to provide equal benefits for couples who couldn’t legally wed. Others companies offer coverage more broadly to unmarried domestic partners, regardless of sexual orientation. Now, some employers who offer benefits targeting same-sex partners say it is only fair to require those couples to marry where legal, just as their straight co-workers must do to extend coverage. That is causing some consternation among gay and lesbian employees and their advocates, who say they could be vulnerable to discrimination. Because marriage certificates are public, the documents may end up “outing” an employee, says Selisse Berry, chief executive of Out and Equal, a workplace advocacy group for gay and lesbian employees. The majority of U.S. states lack antidiscrimination protection for gay and lesbian employees, so workers can be fired for their sexuality, advocates say. “No employee wants to have a benefit taken away, even if it is driven by this other sort of success,” says Jen Cornell, an employment attorney for Nilan Johnson Lewis in Minneapolis.

Verizon and Delta are among the companies reportedly phasing out unmarried same-sex partner benefits in states where same-sex marriage is legal. Others such as Google are offering partner benefits to all unmarried employees. Per the above-linked article, some companies now fear discrimination lawsuits from unmarried straight employees. (Tipped by JMG reader Dustin)

Insurance Company Ends PrEP Coverage UPDATE: Company Reverses Decision

Poz.com reports:

Assurant Health, a national company specializing in health insurance coverage for individuals and small businesses, will no longer cover the med Truvada as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent contracting HIV. Several Assurant customers who had been taking Truvada (comprising the antiretrovirals tenofovir and emtricitabine) as PrEP were recently notified that the insurer would end coverage of the med in July. “Prophylactic treatment is not a covered benefit as listed in the Exclusion Section of your member contract,” read one customer’s notice (see below). “As a courtesy we will allow two additional months of prescription coverage for your Truvada prescription. This means you will continue to receive prescription drug card benefits for Truvada at CVSC Specialty Pharmacy until July 1, 2015.”

Truvada as a daily HIV preventive has been approved by the FDA and endorsed by the CDC. Last week the parent company of Assurant revealed that next year it will either sell or shut down the insurer because they can no longer refuse to cover high-risk patients due to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

UPDATE: This just in: "Hello, I wanted to provide the following updated information to you. Here is our statement. We are reversing our decision and will be reaching out to policyholders who received the letter. Thank you, Mary Hinderliter, Vice President, Assurant Health."

TEXAS: GOP Rep Wants To Revoke Insurance Benefits For Same-Sex Partners Of Public School Employees

Only three Texas school districts offer plus-one insurance benefits that are inclusive of same-sex partners and even asshat Gov. Greg Abbott said that was legal back when he was the state's attorney general. But that isn't stopping state Rep Drew Springer.  John Wright reports at the Texas Observer:

Springer has introduced a budget amendment that would eliminate state funding for districts that violate the Texas Constitution, which prohibits recognition of same-sex partnerships. The amendment is similar to a bill Springer authored two years ago, which cleared committee but was never considered on the floor. Under Springer’s budget amendment, the education commissioner, in consultation with the attorney general, would decide whether districts have violated the Constitution. Districts would have 60 days to correct the problem. According to Equality Texas, Springer’s amendment is aimed at the Austin, Pflugerville and San Antonio school districts, which offer “plus-one” benefits that are inclusive of same-sex partners. But the group says those benefits are in line with a 2013 opinion from former Attorney General Greg Abbott, which found that such programs are only illegal if they create or recognize a status similar to marriage.

Before today Springer was most notorious for his Shopping Bag Freedom Act, which would have outlawed bans on plastic bags because, he claims, reusable fabric bags spread diseases.

RELATED: On Friday current Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won a preliminary injunction that bans LGBT state employees from the right to take medical leave when their partners are ill. That ruling currently also applies to Louisiana, Arkansas, and Nebraska.

White House Celebrates Fifth Anniverary Of Affordable Care Act Passage

Via press release:

On the five-year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, one thing couldn’t be clearer: This law is working, and in many ways, it’s working even better than anticipated.

After five years of the Affordable Care Act, more than 16 million uninsured Americans have gained the security of health insurance – an achievement that has cut the ranks of the uninsured by nearly one third. These aren’t just numbers. Because of this law, there are parents who can finally afford to take their kids to the doctor. There are families who no longer risk losing their home or savings just because someone gets sick. There are young people free to pursue their dreams and start their own business without worrying about losing access to healthcare. There are Americans who, without this law, would not be alive today.

For Americans who already had insurance before this law was passed, the Affordable Care Act has meant new savings and new protections. Today, tens of millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions are no longer at risk of being denied coverage. Women no longer have to worry about being charged more just for being women. Millions of young people have been able to stay on their parents’ plan until they turn 26.

More than 9 million seniors and people with disabilities have saved an average of $1,600 per person on their prescription medicine, over $15 billion in all since the Affordable Care Act became law. More than 70 million Americans have gained access to preventive care, including contraceptive services, with no additional out-of-pocket costs. And the law has helped improve the quality of health care: it’s a major reason we saw 50,000 fewer preventable patient deaths in hospitals over the last three years of data.

Read the full statement.

White House: 11.4 Million Americans Are Now Covered Under Obamacare

Pelosi Mocks Obamacare Repeal Attempts

From Rep. Nancy Pelosi's YouTube channel: "It’s another week in the new Republican Congress, which means another stale attempt to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. Thanks to the health care law, uninsured rates are at a record low and more hardworking families are able to afford insurance and yet, Republicans are holding their 56th repeal vote. Unbelievable. Now I know how Bill Murray’s character felt in the movie, Groundhog Day."

Obamacare Ad Stars Married Gay Couple

(Tipped by JMG reader Elroy)

SCOTUS To Hear Obamacare Challenge That Would Gut Exchange Subsidies

Via Bloomberg News:

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider a challenge to the subsidies that are a linchpin of President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul, accepting a case that suddenly puts the law under a new legal cloud. Two years after upholding much of the law by a single vote, the justices today said they will hear a Republican-backed appeal targeting tax credits that have helped more than 4 million people afford insurance.A ruling blocking those credits might unravel the Affordable Care Act, making other provisions ineffective and potentially destabilizing insurance markets in much of the country. The high court’s decision to hear the case comes days before the start of the law’s second open-enrollment season. A decision will come by June.

More from Think Progress:

The Affordable Care Act gives states a choice whether they will set up their own health exchange where consumers can buy health insurance or whether to allow the federal government to do so for them. This lawsuit alleges that subsidies helping individuals buy health insurance are only available in exchanges run by a state, not by the feds. If it succeeds, the likely result will be a “death spiral” where higher premiums cause healthy consumers to drop out of the insurance market, which will cause higher premiums, which will cause more consumers to drop their insurance. Eventually, many states’ individual insurance markets are likely to collapse if this lawsuit prevails.

The challenge could cost millions of Americans their health insurance. Just as Jesus would want.

Little Caesars Chain Sued For Denying Insurance Benefits To Gay Couples

Via Reuters:

A former trainee manager at Little Caesars pizza in California sued the company for discrimination on Wednesday, accusing the Detroit-based chain of denying employees health insurance benefits for their legally wed same-sex spouses. The lawsuit was brought in state Superior Court in Orange County, regional headquarters for the nation's third-largest pizza chain, by Frank Bernard, 47, who said he quit his job after Little Caesars refused to extend coverage to his husband of six years. "I didn't want anything special, I just wanted the same benefits package as heterosexual couples," Bernard said at a news conference in Los Angeles. It cites a letter Little Caesars presented Bernard explaining a benefits policy that defined "spouse" as "the one person to whom you are legally married under the laws of the state in which you reside, including common law spouse, and who is the opposite gender from you."

Little Caesars has 3700 locations and ranks third in gross annual sales behind fellow pizza chains Pizza Hut and Domino's.

George Takei: Boycott Hobby Lobby

"In this case, the owners happen to be deeply Christian; one wonders whether the case would have come out differently if a Muslim-run chain business attempted to impose Sharia law on its employees. As many have pointed out, Hobby Lobby is the same company that invests in Pfizer and Teva Pharmaceuticals, makers of abortion inducing-drugs and the morning after pill. It also buys most of its inventory from China, where forced abortions are common. The hypocrisy is galling.

"Hobby Lobby is not a church. It’s a business — and a big one at that. Businesses must and should be required to comply with neutrally crafted laws of general applicability. Your boss should not have a say over your healthcare. Once the law starts permitting exceptions based on 'sincerely held religious beliefs' there’s no end to the mischief and discrimination that will ensue. Indeed, this is the same logic that certain restaurants and hotels have been trying to deploy to allow proprietors to refuse service to gay couples.

"While we work to overturn this decision by legislation, people of good conscious should BOYCOTT any for-profit business, including Hobby Lobby, which chooses to impose its religious beliefs on its employees. The only way such companies ever learn to treat people with decency and tolerance is to hit them where it counts–in their pocketbooks. I won’t be shopping there, and women everywhere should exercise their right of protest and refuse to shop there as well." - George Takei, writing on his personal blog.

Hobby Lobby Owners Celebrate

SCOTUS Rules In Favor Of Hobby Lobby

The ruling was 5-4 with Justice Alito writing for the majority. Via MSNBC:

The Supreme Court has ruled that a closely-held company can be exempt from the contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The closely watched case pitted the administration and its allies, including women’s health advocates, against the religious right, which has repeatedly accused President Barack Obama of waging a war on religion in the public square.

Hobby Lobby Stores, an Oklahoma-based, evangelical-owned craft chain with about 13,000 employees, and Conestoga Wood Specialties, a small Mennonite-owned cabinet maker in Pennsylvania, were two of the 49 for-profit companies that said the requirement violated their religious freedom. The Obama administration had provided exemptions for the law for houses of worship and an accommodation for religious nonprofits (the subject of pending litigation) but not for for-profit corporations.

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the law at issue in the case, has never been applied to for-profit entities. The Court had to decide whether corporations even have religious exercise rights – making the beliefs of the employer synonymous with the entire company – and weigh that question against the potential harms to the employees.

Read the full ruling.

Allstate Pitches For Gay Business

"Everyone deserves to be in good hands. We believe everyone should be treated with respect and without judgment no matter who they love. If you feel the same, share this film we created featuring Safe In My Hands by out singer/songwriter Eli Lieb."

Insurers Accused Of HIV Bias

Two HIV advocacy groups filed a federal complaint yesterday over four insurance companies that have placed anti-retroviral medications in their highest payment tiers. Via the New York Times:

The complaint asserts that the four insurers — CoventryOne, Cigna, Humana and Preferred Medical Plan — placed H.I.V. drugs on the highest payment tier for midlevel, or silver, plans on the federal health insurance exchange in Florida. CoventryOne, for example, placed every H.I.V. drug, including generics, on the most restrictive tier, which meant consumers were required to exhaust a $1,000 deductible and were then asked to contribute 40 percent toward the cost of their drugs, the groups said. Similarly, Humana requires that members spend their $1,500 deductible and then contribute 50 percent, they said. Many of the plans, the groups said, also placed other requirements on the drugs, like advance authorization by a doctor or a limit of a 30-day supply. Representatives for all four insurers said their plans’ H.I.V. drug coverage was in line with accepted medical practice and met requirements for coverage.

More from the Wall Street Journal: 

HIV advocacy organizations have said the issue isn't specific to Florida and they believe a decision would influence plans across the country. The health law bars insurers from charging customers more based on their medical history when it comes to setting premiums. The Wall Street Journal reported in December that HIV organizations believed some health insurers had found other ways to discourage people infected with HIV from signing up for their plans, such as requiring higher copayments for HIV drugs than they would for other prescriptions. The two patient advocacy organizations are trying to challenge that practice by using another provision in the health law that bars any health program that receives federal funds from discriminating on the basis of "race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability."

Headline Of The Day

Details. (Tipped by JMG reader Smith)

Tweet Of The Day - FLOTUS

You deserve peace of mind. If you or a loved one still needs health insurance, go to http://t.co/CNqHfX7XGs and #GetCoveredNow. -mo
— The First Lady (@FLOTUS) March 31, 2014

Feds Remind LGBT Community: Monday Is the Last Day To Sign Up For Obamacare

Via press release from the Department Of Health:

It’s critical for the LGBT community and all Americans to remember that Monday, March 31 is the last day of open enrollment and those who miss out can’t get covered through the Marketplace until 2015. Access to affordable care has long been an obstacle to good health and financial security for the LGBT community and all Americans. On average, LGBT Americans suffer from higher rates of cancer, obesity, HIV/AIDS and mental illness than the rest of the nation. For those with chronic conditions such as HIV/AIDS, dollar caps on annual and lifetime coverage meant astronomical bills and debt for many in the community. But thanks to the Affordable Care Act, it is a new day. Lifetime and annual dollar caps are a thing of the past and no one can be denied coverage based on their health history. Legally married couples are treated equally when it comes to coverage or financial assistance, no matter who they are married to.And, for the first time, Marketplace coverage is now affordable for the LGBT community and Americans all over the country. Remember: Monday, March 31 is the last day of enrollment - that’s only five days left to get everyone covered who still needs it.

If you miss the Monday deadline, there might be little bit of wiggle room.

Obamacare? Are You Nuts?

"All dialog lifted verbatim from the comments sections of conservative web sites." You'll see the ending coming, but stick around for it anyway.

(Tipped by JMG reader David)

Open Thread Thursday

The Obamacare deadline is approaching. Are you ready?

Pets For Obamacare

The wingnuts are mocking this, of course.