I live in Maryland, but go to school in DC, which has some of the best domestic partnership benefits of any state or territory in the country, even MA or CA. Domestic partner benefits in DC are open to same and different sex couples.
Currently in a hetero relationship, I feel uncomfortable taking advantage of rights given to some people in America and not to others, which essentially biols down to my unease with marriage And not getting married really screws with health insurance.
I'm insured under my school health insurance, but my partner only has emergency coverage through his non-profit. So we figured that we could ensure him as my domestic partner.
Student coverage per annum: $1,400.
Spouse or domestic partner coverage per annum: $5,300.
WTF?!?
Since when does a partnership in which one member is a current full-time student and the other not able to afford their own health insurance have FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS lying around to ensure the second partner?!?
So instead, my partner remains woefully under-insured, as do the partners of many same and different sex relationships.
Beyond the debate of same-sex marriage lies the greater problem of true rights for all partnerships, and not just rights that exist, like my school's health insurance, but rights that are realistically obtainable.
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Maybe the univerity system is subsidizing your tuition as a student, but will not do so for souses/partners on the assumtion they are not raking up their own school debt.
In my state the in state tuition is about 1/3 of the out of state tuition. What is the out of state student insurance rate? (making some assumptions about your student insurance here).
If the out of state rate is the same as spouse/partner rate I would say that makes sense
Because DC is a freak location legally, the conditions of what qualifies as "in state" is probbaly not the same for a real state. Maybe it is w/i 50 miles or Mariland and Virgina...
This is not just a school thing. It was the same way when my husband and I were trying to put me on the health insurance he got through his work. Health insurance in general in this country is an absolute disgrace.
"Health insurance in general in this country is an absolute disgrace."
Yeppers.
Any insurance program works like this:
You give money to someone, they then use your money to figure out how to not give you your money back when you need it.
@ Steven,
The rates are (unfortunately) the same for in- and out-of-state students.
I did a tiny research project on spousal and partner benefits for my women in the law class. 2 of the 5 schools in DC offer domestic partner coverage. The other school that supports DPs offers coverage at a reasonable rate - around $2,000.
There is no justification for the ridiculous price at my school.
We've experienced trouble with insurance as well and we actually ARE marriedd. My husband's work is trying to "cut back" aka, take awy everythign beneficial to their employees. He wanted to get on my health insurance which is significantly better (and I work for a non-profit) However, my work insurance will not accept him if he has other opportunties for insurance. Even if our insurance is much more expansive. We could include him on mine and they would only cover things that are absolutely not covered by his, but I would have to pay like he was recieving full coverage instead of partial.
My husband and I are in a similar situation with his job. If he were just insuring himself, we'd be paying about $50 a week for insurance. Adding me and our son puts us up to over $100 a week for insurance. Even if we didn't have a kid, or even if we had 3 kids, the cost would be the same for adding family members. Maybe your school does the same thing where it has one cost to add family so somebody with 5 kids isn't going broke. It's a messed up system though, and honestly I just prefer to get MassHealth (the Massachusetts equivalent of Medicaid) because we're poor anyway.
Herong,
I don't think you are acknowledging the astronomical costs of health care. The system is broken and costs are through the roof. You say that 2 out of 5 schools offer coverage, including your own. That means 3 out of 5 offer nothing, which is much more expensive than what your school is offering. Are you at a public university or a private one? This impacts how much they have available for health insurance.
I am not doubting that you are struggling with the costs of health care, and that it is frustrating to see another school offer better prices, but your school is more progressive than most by even offering partner coverage.
This issue here is not partner coverage but the broken health care system.
@ Mama Mia,
I completely agree. My post is definitely a mash-up of several things stressing me out at the moment. Unavailable coverage is always more expensive than the most expensive coverage. Among other themes, I was trying to express my frustration at the fact that sometimes the price of coverage can be de facto lack of coverage. And when domestic partners have so few opportunities to be covered, it's unfortunate when those opportunities are so highly priced.
My dirty little secret: I'm a proponent of universal health care. Eeeeek!
the only reason i have the job i have is for health insurance, how about we fight for government covered health care, then it wouldn't matter who your partner is?
herong,
I hope I didn't sound snotty! I see what you are saying. And, EeEK, I'm for universal health care too!