Healthcare.gov ignores unmarried partners
As an early step in implementing health care reform, the federal government has launched a new website intended to help you “Take health care into your own hands.” Unless you’re in an unmarried partnership, that is.
A search for “domestic partner” on the website returns ZERO information (a search for “spouse” returns 43 links). You can be a “family with children” or an “individual,” but you’ll have a hard time finding information for child-free couples and nothing for unmarried couples.
Rather than get mad, let’s take the feds at their word and help them improve. Many pages have a feedback box in the lower right corner that asks “Was this page helpful?” Click NO, and add a short note such as “I want information about domestic partner coverage.”
We’ll keep an eye on healthcare.gov to see whether they really improve.
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:53 pm
I don’t believe healthcare.gov has married couples either. In other words, couples of any sort is not a concept under the new health care law. All that matters as I understand it in determining subsidies is household size, but I could be wrong. Subsidies are based on the poverty guidelines, which are based on household size… Anyway we need some research on this. This applies to people / households buying individual coverage.
Now, since most people will continue to get insurance through their employer, for those people their employer’s policies in regards to marital status, domestic partners, “plus one” whatever will still apply. I don’t think there is anything in the new health care law that makes marital status discrimination or relationship status discrimination by employers illegal.