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	Vol.7, No 50, November 24, 1999
	Unwed couples to get benefits By Jason Kosareff Daily Forty-Niner Domestic partners of California State University employees will be eligible to receive medical benefits beginning Jan. 1 after a unanimous vote by the Board of Trustees last week. Health care coverage is extended to both gay and heterosexual partners of CSU employees, according to a report from the Committee on University and Faculty Personnel. The CSU previously only covered married couples. "Up until this time the law did not allow us to do this," said Ken Swisher, CSU spokesman. The board's unanimous vote last week follows the passing of Assembly Bill 26, which was signed into law last Wednesday. AB 26 establishes the right to register a same-sex domestic partner with the state beginning Jan. 1. Domestic partners, once registered with the state, can qualify for health benefits, including dental and vision coverage beginning Feb. 1. "For several bargaining cycles we have been trying to get medical and dental benefits for domestic partners," said Hubert Lloyd, vice chairman of Bargaining Unit 9 of the California State Employees Association. A contract between employees and the CSU system stated that if a state law passed allowing domestic partners to have benefits, the CSU system would pass the same resolution, Lloyd said. Enrollment of a domestic partner in a Public Employee's Retirement System health plan is based on registration with the state and the system's acceptance process, according to the report. Precise projections in terms of cost have not been determined, Swisher said. "Typically, this kind of thing has an enrollment of about 1 percent," Swisher said. "We don't know how much this will cost yet." The ability to enroll domestic partners in the health plan will be based on the presentation of a properly certified registration notice from the Secretary of State, according to the report. All couples must be 18 or older to get benefits, according to the report. Retirement benefits will also be available to both same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partners, according to the report. After registering the relationship, employees may obtain benefits for their partners according to the standard eligibility rules of the Public Employee's Medical and Hospital Care Act, according to the report. The CSU system follows the PERS dependent eligibility regulations when establishing eligibility criteria for dental and vision benefits, according to the report.		Unwed couples to get benefits   CSU report shows progress   Return of American-Indian remains one step closer   Student strikes it rich Double- sided racism   Desert road trip relieves stress   LETTER TO THE EDITOR Model graduate   Play more corn than comedy Many candidates but only one gets roasted Fall 99 ISSUES DAILY 49ER HOMEPAGE
Forty-Niner Publications, Department of Journalism, California State University, Long Beach ©1999 All rights reserved.