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Columbus, Ohio, city employees get DP health insurance
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Columbus, Ohio, city employees get DP health insurance
Columbus, Ohio, city employees get DP health insurance
Columbus, Ohio, mayor Michael Coleman's administration has quietly arranged to make health insurance coverage available to the domestic partners of city employees--something that caused a stir of controversy six years ago. This time a city council vote wasn't required because the city doesn't pay anything. Starting Friday the city will offer a new carrier for supplemental, voluntary insurance for any of its 8,000 employees who want health insurance for their unmarried partners--gay or straight. It's on top of what the city supplies, and the employee picks up all of the cost. In 1998 the Columbus city council unanimously approved domestic-partner benefits, providing only two hours' notice before taking the vote. The council repealed its decision two months later, after opponents threatened a citizens' referendum.