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Health benefits for same-sex partners of SIU employees to be decided in fall

Word on whether the SIU System would provide health care benefits to the domestic partners of homosexual employees could be months away, but the option is just one of the topics currently under consideration.

The SIU Board of Trustees and the administrations of both SIUC and SIUE are in the exploration stage of offering a variety of benefits to same-sex significant others, including many of the same that are offered to heterosexual married couples.

Duane Stucky, vice president for Financial and Administrative Affairs on the SIUC campus, said a decision on the policy is expected to be finalized during the upcoming fall semester.

The offering of health benefits is likely to shape similarly to programs at the University of Illinois and Western Illinois University. Both schools' policies dictate a certain amount to be reimbursed to the partners who purchase their own private insurance.

While Illinois currently provides a refund of up to $3,000, the estimated proposal for the SIU System's policy is $4,800.

Illinois also requires eligible employees and their partners to register relationships with the university in order to demonstrate that they meet the criteria for a domestic partnership. They must also submit an affidavit verifying the couple has resided together for at least six months, that they are in a monogamous relationship and are unable to wed because Illinois law prohibits the action. Because of the policy, the university employee would be required to pay taxes on the additional income from the reimbursement.

Like the other policies already implemented, the SIU proposal would not include state-offered benefits, such as retirement.

Stucky said the push toward offering benefits is likely being mulled over by the administration because homosexual couples do not have the right to marry. He also said neither campus offers benefits to unmarried heterosexual couples because members of the opposite sex are permitted to walk down the aisle.

Dorian Solot is executive director for the Alternatives to Marriage Project, a national organization that advocates equality for unmarried people, including gay and lesbian couples, cohabiters and those who choose not to marry. She said decisions to replicate policies after other universities are standard among academic institutions.

"It has become standard within the field of academia," Solot said. "Benefits are important to be financially available. When a [gay person] is denied, there is a basis for discrimination."

Illinois State University is also considering adopting a similar policy for its homosexual faculty and staff members.

Benefits packages for homosexual domestic partners of employees are not new concepts as Solot said the first stream of offerings from employers were presented nearly two decades ago. But Solot also said that a university's costs for health benefits are fairly inexpensive because not many couples register. Many partners could have already obtained health benefits through their own employment, while others may be afraid to be "outed" at a place of employment.

While enrollment in university policies is limited, Solot said instating such a plan could save someone's life.

"Though the numbers are relatively small," she said, "it could mean life or death to some individuals."