NOREEN: Plus one: Not just for same-sex partners

Plus one.

It could be coming to Colorado Springs. It will alternately be portrayed either as the latest harbinger of the apocalypse or a rational response to society's evolving standards.

"Plus one" is a reference to a form of health insurance that covers a worker plus one other person, whether it's a spouse, a domestic partner, a parent, or an adult child. It is controversial to some because it would cover the same-sex domestic partner of the employee, but plus one programs go much further than that by addressing a variety of family needs; for instance, allowing a worker to include a parent with Alzheimer's or an adult child with some kind of disability, or who might merely lack health insurance.

Citizens Project, the Colorado Springs-based nonprofit launched in 1992 to fight the Amendment 2 campaign, announced Thursday it will be urging the Colorado Springs City Council to adopt a plus one program for city workers.

"The city of Colorado Springs needs to catch up to Colorado and the rest of the country in protecting families and extending benefits," said Barbara Van Hoy, Citizen Project's executive director.

The city was in the vanguard on the issue in 2003, when a divided city council approved health care benefits for the same-sex partners of city employees. The program lasted less than a year, though, as Mayor Lionel Rivera won a campaign in which he promised to eliminate the benefits.

Rivera made good on the promise in early 2004 and the partners of a handful of city employees lost the coverage.

Before the same-sex benefits were voted in, Councilman Larry Small backed a plus one program, but concerns about the cost persuaded the council to adopt the financially modest same-sex idea.

This week, Small said actuarial studies he's read show that a plus one program can work. "It's doable, it's very doable," he said.
Van Hoy acknowledged that the only way a plus one benefits program can win approval is "it has to be budget-neutral. The employees would have to buy-in."

"This is a great way to support families and it would make Colorado Springs a more competitive employer," Van Hoy said.
Because plus one benefits are neutral toward sexual orientation, the city could change its polarized history on one aspect of gay rights.

At one time or another, council members Small, Jan Martin, Jerry Heimlicher, Scott Hente and Bernie Herpin have supported the plus one concept. Technically, five votes are all that are needed.

But it would be nice if city employees knew that this time they wouldn't have the rug pulled from beneath them, as was done in 2004.

Our city employees ought to be assured their benefits won't be subject to the next electoral whim.

Five council votes would be great - plus one, or maybe even two.
-
Read my blog updates at
gazette.com/blogs/barrysblog