Partner Perks

Same-sex domestic partners of federal employees slowly are picking up benefits available to spouses and dependents, progress the Obama administration has promoted. But even as policy takes small steps forward, same-sex partners are left without access to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, a problem that may not require statutory changes to remedy.

The law prohibits the government from offering full domestic partner benefits, but there has been legal wrangling in the past over whether the Office of Personnel Management has authority to grant access to health care to domestic partners. In a February court document from the Justice Department on a case involving the extension of FEHBP benefits to the wife of a female federal worker, the administration was of the opinion that OPM does not possess such authority -- even as President Obama called for the repeal of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. A subsequent Justice brief filed in July, however, argued in support of granting the employee's wife access to health care coverage.

The problem extends to the very heart of federal agencies' nondiscrimination statements, according to one union leader. In a letter to OPM Director John Berry, International Federation of Technical and Professional Engineers President Gregory Junemann noted that NASA's equal opportunity policy, for example, claims to cover all human capital programs, including benefits. But agency employees who are legally married to their same-sex partners are unable to extend their health care coverage to their spouses, he wrote, resulting in unequal compensation for equal work.

To bring these workers closer to par, OPM should establish a fund to compensate employees who have applied for FEHBP or the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program coverage for their same-sex spouse but have been denied due to DOMA, according to Junemann. The benefit would provide direct reimbursement in the amount of the difference between the out-of-pocket medical and dental expenses incurred and the amount the same-sex spouse would have paid if he or she had been covered by the federal government.

As the conflict continues, same-sex domestic partners do have access to some federal benefits, including long-term care insurance and family leave. Some agencies also have granted sick leave benefits long available to married heterosexual workers to employees in same-sex domestic partnerships.

Hurricane Help

The Federal Employee Education and Assistance fund is jumping in on Hurricane Irene relief efforts with monetary awards for government workers affected by the storm. FEEA, a nonprofit that provides funding to employees for education, child care and emergency assistance, is offering disaster grants of up to $500.

Employees who need assistance can download a disaster relief application, or call FEEA at 800-323-4140 for more information. FEEA also is soliciting donations to its natural disaster fund, which has paid out $250,000 in relief since May 1. Contributions can be made through the organization's website, or by check made out to FEEA and sent to FEEA Headquarters, 3333 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Suite 300, Lakewood, CO 80227.