Features
Georgetown extends family health coverage
Do a woman and her domestic partner constitute a family? Most liberal Americans would probably say they do. But what about a woman who lives with and takes care of her elderly mother? What about a brother who lives with his sister and helps raise her children?
These situations might be more complicated, but as of January 1, 2006, they too will be eligible for family health care coverage at Georgetown University. Under a new policy just approved by the President’s Executive Committee, Georgetown University employees can purchase a family health insurance policy that covers their domestic partner or adult tax dependent, as defined by federal tax law.
The policy marks a drastic change from that of previous years, which restricted benefits to “your legal spouse of opposite gender and your dependent children,” according to a Georgetown Human Resources web site. The new policy is gender-neutral and no longer requires that a family involve a marriage.
Many might be surprised to see this kind of policy at a Catholic university, in a time when the Catholic Church has been associated with the strong bolstering of traditional marriage and the persecution of homosexuals.
By
the Voice Staff
November 3, 2005
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