DOMA May Block Public Option in Health Care Reform for Same Sex Partners

As gay rights supporters praise the House’s recently unveiled health care bill for its LGBT and HIV/AIDS provisions, some acknowledge the Defense of Marriage Act could restrict benefits from flowing to LGBT people, depending on how the administration interprets the statute. The $894 billion package, made public last week by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, compiled the work of three committees that produced health care bills. It includes a government-run insurance option that could extend coverage to about 36 million uninsured Americans. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), the only out lesbian in Congress and an advocate for the health care reform bill, said she’s expecting House members to approve the legislation soon following floor debate. But the bill, H.R. 3962, uses the terms “family” and “dependent,” and advocates say the new Health Choices Commissioner — a position established in the legislation to oversee the insurance exchange — could interpret this language to mean someone’s opposite-sex spouse, but not a same-sex spouse. Full Story from the Washington Blade: http://www.washblade.com/2009/11-6/news/national/15485.cfm

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