Outdated Virginia Law Prevents Company from Providing Partner Coverage

The less than wonderful aspects of living in Virginia just never cease - the state has in the past and continues at this time to go out of its way to penalize gay couples. Yet another example is illustrated by this Washington Blade story that looks at Virginia laws that bar partners from being named beneficiaries on employer paid life insurance. It is a near endless task to drag Virginia kicking and screaming into the 20th century, much less the 21st century. Here are some highlights (http://www.washingtonblade.com/2008/1-25/news/localnews/11921.cfm):

The inability of a Virginia resident to take out a life insurance policy on his same-sex partner has inspired a piece of legislation that is before the state’s legislature.

Arlington resident Kelly Young last summer started his job as an attorney for H5 Technologies, a California-based legal consulting company. When he tried to take advantage of his company’s insurance benefits and take out a life insurance policy on his partner of almost 10 years, Bill Reinsmith, H5’s insurance company informed Young that Virginia law prohibited the company from providing such benefits. “The insurance company rejected the application because I’m a Virginia resident,” Young said. “They came back to me with the explanation that ... even if they wanted to, they couldn’t do anything about it without a change in the legislation.”

Virginia law restricts supplemental life insurance coverage to legal spouses and dependent children under 19 or 25 if the child is a full-time student.“Modern gay couples are caught up in an old, outdated insurance scheme,” he said. “This really is an old, outdated policy that when it was written, didn’t even contemplate [the existence] of gay couples, I suspect, but we now find ourselves caught up in it.”

Del. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria), after hearing about Young and Reinsmith’s situation in the fall, filed a bill earlier this month with the state legislature that would address the issue. The legislation, House Bill 685, would allow private companies that have an employee life insurance program to extend coverage to any person agreed upon by the business and the policyholder.

When asked about the likelihood of the bill making it into law, Ebbin noted that the Legislature approved a similar bill in 2005 that expanded opportunities for employers to provide medical benefits for same-sex partners.“The bill shouldn’t be controversial ... but I’m committed to do what I need to do to get the bill passed,” Ebbin said.