Domestic partners not eligible for long-term care benefit

Domestic partners of federal employees are not eligible for long-term health insurance, according to a spokesman for the Office of Personnel Management. "The long-term care option is so new, and we want to make sure the launch is successful," before the government extends coverage to groups not specifically included in the law, said Edmund Byrnes, an OPM spokesman. Byrnes said OPM plans to revisit the issue at some point, and that "we may look at covering domestic partners in the future." The term "domestic partners" refers to same-sex and opposite-sex couples who are not married. A September 2000 law (H.R. 4040) authorized OPM to solicit bids from private insurers to offer long-term care coverage to federal employees and their spouses, children and other close relatives at discounted group rates. Although the law does not specifically offer long-term care coverage for certain groups, including domestic partners, grandparents or siblings, OPM may extend the benefit to those groups at its discretion, Byrnes said. Federal employees will have the opportunity to purchase long-term care insurance at discounted rates no later than October 2002, according to OPM. Last month, OPM selected insurance companies Metropolitan Life and John Hancock to provide long-term care insurance services to federal employees. Domestic partners are also not covered under regular federal health insurance, but can be beneficiaries of Federal Employees Group Life Insurance and the Thrift Savings Plan. Spouses of federal employees are already eligible for these and other benefits, including retirement benefits. "This is a double dose of discrimination," said Maureen S. O'Leary, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, in a statement. "This decision says that money collected from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender taxpayers will support a system that excludes them." Domestic partners are not necessarily losing out on the benefits of long-term health insurance, said Jacqui Simon, director of public policy at the American Federation of Government Employees. "The government is not paying for long-term health insurance, so it's not really a benefit to begin with," Simon said. "It is only in the interest of a small fraction of the workforce to participate in the government's long-term health program; it is not a wise purchase for most federal employees," she said, adding that AFGE does not endorse the government's program. Last February, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., introduced the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act (H.R. 638), which would give the domestic partners of federal employees access to benefits, including health and life insurance, retirement benefits and compensation for work injuries. The bill is currently in committee in the House.