The American family has changed significantly during the past 30 years.  Nowhere is this change more apparent than in the growing number and the growing visibility of same-sex couples.  The U.S. Census Bureau reported that by 1998 only 25% of households were comprised of a husband and wife living with children, whereas there were 5.9 million people living in unmarried partnerships, including 1.7 million people who were living in same-sex relationships.  In recognition of this new reality, corporate leaders began to extend health insurance benefits to employees' domestic partners.  By March 2006, 78% of the Fortune 100 largest corporations and 49% of the Fortune 500 offered health benefits to employees' domestic partners, compared to just 25% of the Fortune 500 in 2000.  As of today, however, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Alabama has not kept pace with social and corporate trends and, as a consequence, risks losing its reputation as a leader, innovator, and competitor in the changing Alabama health insurance market.

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Alabama should implement a comprehensive and company-wide policy ensuring equitable treatment of the domestic partners and spouses of both employees and customers, particularly in the areas of health benefits, bereavement leave, and retirement benefits, for the following reasons.

First, Blue Cross & Blue Shield should offer domestic partner benefits to compete with other Alabama insurers who have already entered the market.  Aetna, Careington, CIGNA, Healthcare Advantage, HealthSpring of Alabama, Sierra Health and Life Insurance Company, UNICARE, and United Healthcare already offer coverage to the domestic partners of their Alabama customers.  By offering this option to the public and to its own employees, BC/BS stands to restore its reputation as an industry leader and to improve relations not just with its own workforce but also with the gay consumer market which was valued at $641 billion in 2006.

Second, Blue Cross & Blue Shield should offer domestic partner benefits as an inexpensive measure for attracting and retaining the best and most talented employees and for promoting fairness and equality in the workplace.  In a 2007 study by MetLife entitled "Study of Employee Benefits Trends," 80% of employees who were "highly satisfied" with their benefits expressed strong job satisfaction, 70% said their benefits package was a reason for joining their current employer, and 83% said it was a factor in staying with the business.

Third, Blue Cross & Blue Shield should offer domestic partner benefits because it is the right thing to do.  As of 2004, the average benefits plan constituted nearly one-fifth of total compensation packages for employees, with roughly half of that devoted to health insurance.  For most gay workers, the portion of those benefits plans that covers an employee's dependents--traditionally, the employee's spouse and children--is unavailable, creating significant and unfair disparities in compensation for employees performing the same job functions.

Access to affordable, quality health care is one of the greatest challenges facing American families--especially for gay workers who often face discrimination in employment and in the availability of health insurance benefits.  By extending the availability of these benefits to same-sex domestic partners and their dependents, by ending a longstanding discriminatory practice, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Alabama can be part of the solution rather than the problem.