Universities' partner plans flawed
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Two state universities may be violating the Kentucky Constitution by extending health insurance coverage to "domestic partners" of employees, the attorney general's office said in an advisory opinion released on Friday.
Assistant Attorney General James M. Herrick, who wrote the opinion, said the definition of "domestic partners" used by the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville is the problem.
"In effect, the universities have placed unconstitutional conditions on health insurance coverage for domestic partners, since the benefit is premised upon the recognition of a legal status in the two individuals that is substantially similar to marriage," Herrick wrote.
One way around the "constitutional infirmity" would be to expand the definition to include any member of an employee's household, whether a cousin, sister, nephew or other financially interdependent person, no matter the relationship, he said.
Christina Gilgor, executive director of the Kentucky Fairness Alliance, said she hopes both universities follow the attorney general's advice.
"The couples enrolled in the benefit plans at the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky are as ordinary and unique as any other family in Kentucky. Providing them the simple security of health insurance is the smart, right, and fair thing to do."
Story created Jun 02, 2007 - 01:20:41 EDT.
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