Domestic partners gain equal benefits

Lindsey Little
Published On: 10/20/2009

 Domestic partners are now being offered the same benefits a heterosexual married couple would receive at UAB.
The equal benefits began October 1 and cover both dependent adult and sponsored dependent child insurances.

Jade Delisle is the director of “One Closed Door After Another,” a film that addresses the lack of availability of domestic partner benefits for gay and lesbian employees at UAB. The film is available on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=annV2cWOwJs.Delisle said the policy was unfair.

“They did not have access to the same healthcare for their partner and children even though they paid the same money,” she said. “The Employee Benefits Committee published a decision that gay and lesbians can claim their partner and their partner’s children on insurance.”

The plan is outlined as “shares a primary residence, not as a renter, tenant or employee, with the covered UAB employee, and has lived with UAB employee at least 12 months prior to effective date of coverage, is at least 19 years old, the age of majority in Alabama, is not a relative and is not married.”

The university is constantly searching for new ways to lure new students, faculty and staff.

“A lot of people left for this reason,” said Delisle.

One can hope that those people will return or those who took off UAB on their list because of the inequality will now reconsider their choice.

Delisle also notes that UAB is one of the top 20 universities on the list of the American Research Universities. Of the top 20 only three of them did not offer domestic partner benefits.

“UAB was one of those three universities,” she said.

One of the top-named qualities by students as to why they joined UAB would be the diversity factor. With the new insurance equality, UAB continues in the vein of diversity.

Email: lklittle@uab.edu