Thomas Hafke and Chad Higby of Moore County, NC, got married in Washington DC several months ago. They later applied for family health insurance through that state's insurance exchange, got approved for benefits, paid their premiums, and eventually received their new insurance cards.
Then they received a call from the head of customer service for Blue Cross Blue Shield early this week and were asked to clarify whether their marriage was an opposite-sex marriage or a same-sex marriage. Hafke confirmed that they were in indeed in a same-sex marriage. The BC/BS customer service head then apologized and told them that their health insurance policy was being canceled:
Then they received a call from the head of customer service for Blue Cross Blue Shield early this week and were asked to clarify whether their marriage was an opposite-sex marriage or a same-sex marriage. Hafke confirmed that they were in indeed in a same-sex marriage. The BC/BS customer service head then apologized and told them that their health insurance policy was being canceled:
The Blue Cross Blue Shield national website says it offers coverage for domestic partners only in states where it is legal. However, Hafke and Higby's case isn't totally hopeless.Sadly, ABC11 is pandering a bit with this title: "Same-sex couple feels ripped-off by Affordable Care Act." It's not the ACA that's caused them to be ineligible. They don't qualify for family health insurance because of the recently passed Amendment 1, which banned state recognition of same-sex marriages in that state.
In an email statement, a Blue Cross spokesman says the company allows large companies to decide whether to offer its employees coverage for same-sex domestic partners. The insurance company is currently implementing technical changes that would allow them to offer coverage to small groups and individual customers by 2015.
It's good news for the couple, but not good enough for them this year. They will have to file separately for individual health coverage.