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(Boston, Massachusetts) Even though same-sex marriage is legal in the state some of the biggest employers in Massachusetts are refusing to provide benefits to the spouses and children of those workers who have wed.
General Dynamics, FedEx, and NStar are among a major corporations in the state that say they are not bound to provide the benefits. The companies all say that because their health plans are federally regulated they are complying with the federal Defense of Marriage Act which bars same-sex unions.
Each of the companies has what is known as self-insured health plans. These are benefits plans in which the employer, not an insurer, collects the premiums and pays the medical and hospital bills of its workers. Self insured plans fall under federal regulations.
Mercer Human Resource Consulting says that about 66 percent of large US companies have self-insured plans.
A FedEx worker in Massachusetts contacted the Boston Globe newspaper after she was notified by her employer that her application to have her wife covered under the company's insurance plan was rejected.
"FedEx is not discriminating against you because of your sexual orientation,’’ FedEd said in its letter of rejection to the worker. ‘‘Rather, the company is following the terms and conditions of its benefit plans’’ under federal law.
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, the group which won the landmark ruling that allows same-sex couples to wed in the state denounced the move.
Staff attorney Michele Granda said that all married couples, including same-sex couples, should be treated equally under self-insured health plans.
Granda said that the issue is likely to wind up in court.
‘‘There are some good legal reasons why we might be able to challenge’’ denial of benefits, she told The Globe.
Earlier this month companies that had provided benefits to same-sex partners said they were canceling those plans. The companies, which included IBM, Raytheon, Northeastern University and Boston Medical Center said that only married same-sex couples would be eligible.
The companies said they extended the benefits because gay couples could not marry, but now that same-sex marriage is legal in state there was no need to offer the benefits to unmarried gays. Unmarried heterosexual couples are also not eligible.
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