Employers cutting domestic partner benefits after gay weddings
04/28/2004
BOSTON -- Now that it's about to be legal for same-sex couples to marry, some Massachusetts employers are eliminating domestic partner benefits offered to gay workers, requiring them to say "I do" if they want to keep their partner on their health plan. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, one of the state's largest employers, will drop domestic partner benefits for Massachusetts residents at the end of this year, as will Babson College. "The original reason for domestic partner benefits was to recognize that same-sex couples could not marry," Beth Israel spokesman Jerry Berger said. "Now that they can, they are essentially on the same footing as heterosexual couples." Employers are not legally required to offer such benefits. Those that do typically require employees and their partner to sign paperwork, in some cases an affidavit, stating that they live together and are financially interdependent. About 40 of the hospital's 5,000 employees receive domestic partner benefits, providing health, dental, and life insurance beneficiary coverage to the worker's partner. They'll have until Dec. 31, the end of the next benefits enrollment period, to produce a marriage certificate if they want to keep their partner covered. Effective May 17 -- the day same-sex partners can begin getting married in Massachusetts under a ruling issued by the state's highest court -- new hires that live in states that recognize same-sex marriage (so far, only Massachusetts does), will be required to be married to add their spouse to Beth Israel's benefit plans, Berger said. Joanne Ayoub, director of organizational development at Beth Israel, has received benefits for her partner, RoseAnne Joaquin, for the past five years. They've been together for 14 years and plan to get married, but may speed the process as a result of the Dec. 31 deadline. "We're probably doing that a couple of months sooner than we planned," said Ayoub, 45, who nonetheless supports the hospital's decision. "The decision is sound, it's right. Having a grace period is quite generous." Babson College in Wellesley has identical plans. Existing workers with domestic partner benefits who live in Massachusetts will lose them unless married by the end of the year, and all new hires must be married to get spousal benefits. "Everyone now has equal access to getting married," said Frank Aubuchon, Babson's associate vice president and director of personnel. "Absent changing this, we would then be discriminating against heterosexual couples who live together but who are not married." Babson and Beth Israel, most of whose workers live in Massachusetts, will continue to offer domestic partner benefits to employees in same-sex relationships who live outside Massachusetts. Both currently offer the benefits to same-sex couples only, and have done so for the past decade. Aubuchon estimates it costs Babson an extra $2,000 to add a partner to an employee's health plan. He said about 10 workers currently get domestic partner benefits. Arline Isaacson, co-chair of the Massachusetts Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus, knows the legalization of gay marriage will lead to some changes. "Their doubtless will be tumult and changes in the private sector as a result of this," Isaacson said. "It's inevitable to a certain extent." She said employers may be acting too soon. There is a move within the Legislature to change the constitution to ban same-sex marriages and allow for civil unions, although nothing could be finalized until after the November 2006 elections at the earliest. "Given that legislators are oriented toward trying to repeal our marriage rights, I would urge employers to not make those changes until we get past November 2006, or they might unintentionally end up harming their employees," she said. Among the employers that plan to maintain domestic partner benefits are: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Fidelity, Gillette, and EMC Corp. Some employers, like the state of Massachusetts, Boston College, and Boston University, don't offer those benefits. At Harvard University, which has offered domestic partner benefits for the past 15 years, same-sex domestic partner benefits will continue in the immediate future, according to Merry Touborg of the university's human resources office. A Harvard policy statement, to be released next week in a university publication, says: "It is anticipated, however, that this determination will be revisited within the next two years and that for purposes of benefits eligibility, the university may require marriage of all couples as it does currently with opposite-sex couples." In Ayoub's case, she said she's comfortable with Beth Israel's decision and considers the hospital one of the most progressive employers in the state. "I personally did not feel pressured," she said of getting married. "We have been ready and prepared. What's before us for the first time is choice. It's very powerful and very humbling. I'm very aware of choice for the first time and I'm grateful. We're prepared."
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