Family Pride’s Blog

It’s no surprise to LGBTQ parents that the insurance industry discriminates against them and their families. From marriage and partner recogniction to legal parent status and children’s access to health benefits, there are any number of obvious ways that insurance excludes LGBTQ people and their kids.

But rather than just thinking about how the insurance industry discriminates and excludes, I think it’s helpful to take it a step further, to truly wrap our brains around what’s going on:

The benefits packages that insurance companies provide not only discriminate and exclude, they define what specific illnesses, procedures, treatments, and, yes, even families are worth encouraging and supporting.

My package, for instance, includes funds for childbirth classes and support and education programs for expectant mothers, but says nothing of preparing parents who are adopting children, even infants who will be in their care from the first moments of life. The first thing to note here is that insurance companies often apply the term “medically necessary” as a rationale for providing benefits or not. In my reading, there’s nothing “medically necessary” about parent education classes for anyone, really. If parent education classes were “medically necessary,” why wouldn’t my insurance also cover home care assistance for chronically ill people, such as providing funds to hire someone to assistance in daily tasks like dressing, cleaning and feeding oneself. My insurance covers home care assistance for things like physical therapy, administration of drugs and other at home “treatments,” but not day-to-day personal care tasks, things that can vastly improve one’s quality of life and can be excessively difficult to do when debilitated by illness.

Elsewhere in my package there’s funding for gym memberships and nutrition counseling–also, in the strictest sense, not “medically necessary.” So what’s going on here? If insurance is willing to subsidize preventive care and health maintenance, which would include classes to educate new parents on how to best care for their kids, why not apply that rationale equally?

Whether insurance companies intend this or not, their current support of one type of parent (mothers who give birth) over others privileges one type of family over others. Why should lesbian moms or gay dads, for instance, not receieve benefits for parent education classes when they pay their premiums, as well? For that matter, why should any prospective parent who is not a pregnant woman be excluded from these benefits? If the health and well-being of the children is primary purpose behind a parent education benefit, why not equally care for all children?

This is just one of the many questions we must ask the insurance industry, which so greatly shapes our lives through our health. Anyone reading this post who feels categorically discriminated against or excluded from their insurance coverage should think not only about how they’re excluded but who is included and why. What groups and kinds of people are held up over others? Who receives benefits, who has coverage? None of this is black and white and all of it can change.

If you want to take action, assess your benefits package and see if you and your family are inappropriately excluded. You may not be able to get your provider to cover your partner without legal marriage, but you may make waves around things like parent education class benefits and other, less “political” subjects.

President Bush has nominated Kentucky doctor James Holsinger as Surgeon General, the nation’s number one spokesperson for American health. Supporters of Holsinger note his 41-page resume, including teaching stints at various medical schools and serving as health secretary for the state of Kentucky. As for “qualifications,” the AP article goes, Holsinger “seems born to be surgeon general.”

But there’s another side to the story, a side of great importance to the LGBTQ community and our friends. James Holsinger has a long, recorded history of anti-gay attitudes, policies and positions. He’s presided over the ousting of various openly gay and lesbian ministers in his United Methodist Church, penned articles on the “physiopathology” (or the “abnormal function”) of homosexuality, and resigned from committees specifically because he feared the “liberal” side would win on issues of homosexuality.

With the LGBTQ population in the US estimated in the tens of millions, the question is: why would we ever send up a biased nominee to serve as America’s medical authority, when there are so many other accomplished physicians out there without bias ready to take the position? How come the extent to which this man is bigoted is the question–not whether he’s bigoted in the first place?

If Holsinger won’t stand up for the health and safety of all Americans, then he shouldn’t stand at all. And whether his views on homosexuality have changed over the years doesn’t matter; his public record against homosexuality sends a message to all LGBTQ people that he cannot be trusted.

Holsinger’s nomination will gain traction in the coming weeks. A Senate hearing awaits. If you are as alarmed by this nomination as we are, contact your Senators. Tell them to oppose divisive public officials. Tell them you expect better out of a Surgeon General, for all Americans.

*This post was written by Program and Education Associate Dustin Kight, on behalf of the Family Pride staff.

LGBTQ parents face unique challenges in keeping their children safe and healthy. Bruce Steiger and Rick Karl are currently seeing their 15-month-old daughter, Krystie, through a dreadful procedure in the hopes of improving her life. Krystie suffers from Tay Sachs Disease, a progressive neurological genetic disorder. Children with Tay Sachs rarely live beyond the age of five. The experimental procedure Krystie is undergoing involves chemotherapy, radiation, and a stem cell transplant—in essence, a total blood system replacement.

Bruce and Rick asked to share their story with the readers of the Family Pride Blog. They want to raise awareness of Tay Sachs and contribute to the large community of parents taking care of children with devastating illnesses. And as gay dads, they want to share how they’ve educated doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers about LGBTQ families while fighting for their daughter’s life.

In the course of caring for a sick child, no parent should have to spend an ounce of extra energy dispelling myths or fighting prejudice because they are LGBTQ. But the reality is that LGBTQ parents must do this all the time, even as they go through some of the most personal, harrowing experiences of their lives.

There are things we can do before tragedy strikes to keep prejudice and discrimination out of our family care. Here are five things you can do now to create a better healthcare environment for your family:

1. Keep family relationship paperwork on you. If you have proof of partner status, parents rights, powers of attorney, adoption decrees, or any other form of relationship recognition, make sure it’s there in case of emergency.
2. Educate your healthcare providers (doctors, pediatricians, local hospital staff) about your family. If they know you’re an LGBTQ family ahead of time, they’re more likely to be responsive to your needs.
3. If the creation of your family involves assisted reproduction, research to see what genetic illnesses are screened for, when, and by what triggers. Every family has to reach a comfort level when it comes to the degree of pre-screening that needs to be done. Knowing as much as you can as you begin this process will help you navigate these difficult waters.
4. If you’ve transracially adopted, investigate to see what illnesses and health problems are more likely to affect your child than others. Some illnesses are more likely to affect certain racial/ethnic groups. Understanding how certain diseases impact certain communities will allow you to be better prepared.
5. Visit the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association for resources and information on LGBTQ-competent healthcare providers.

And still, no amount of preparation will make the personal struggle less difficult. To read more about Rick, Bruce and Krystie, visit Krystie’s Caring Bridge homepage.

Thank you, Rick, Bruce and Krystie, for sharing your family with us. Our thoughts are with you.

Today is the 6th National Back Up Your Birth Control Day of Activism. The 2007 Day of Activism is dedicated to spreading the word to teens about emergency contraception (EC) as a safe and effective method of back up birth control. Efforts this year will address the new ‘dual-label’ environment, in which adults no longer need a prescription to obtain EC, but teens younger than 18 do. The campaign will continue the longstanding tradition of EC education and outreach through provider and public education, and policy debates about EC. Family Pride is proud to be a co-sponsor of this campaign to spread awareness about EC and the misinformation surrounding it. (Click here for the facts about EC.)

Why, you may wonder, are issues like birth control and choice important for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ)-headed families? As it turns out, the connection between reproductive freedom and sexual freedom are deep and intertwining. The 1973 Roe v Wade decision established a right to privacy guaranteed by the 14th amendment…. that same right to privacy served as the precedent in the 2003 Lawrence v Texas decision which declared that same-sex relations between consenting adults shall no longer by criminalized. Continue Reading »

Next Monday marks the start of National LGBT Health Awareness Week (March 11-17). This week recognizes and promotes the importance of health in the LGBT community on the local, state and national levels. According to the National LGBT Health Awareness Week website:

The theme of the 2007 National LGBT Health Awareness Week is KNOW MORE. This is a call to KNOW MORE about how to stay healthy and how to improve the health of the LGBT community.”

Rebecca Fox, director of the National Coalition for LGBT Health, explained to us that LGBTQ health is particularly important to LGBTQ-parented families in three areas.

1. Healthcare coverage. LGBTQ families are less likely to be fully covered under health insurance because the insured partner’s company may not offer domestic partner benefits.
2. Health services. Not all health services are culturally competent; this impacts not only the service provided to LGBTQ people, but also to their children. Not all health services are equipped to work with family structures that differ from the “Ozzie and Harriet” model.
3. Senior care. Services provided to seniors, such as nursing homes or assisted living, are impacted by the legal and policy frameworks which deny LGBTQ people access to financial resources. For example, social security does not pay survivor benefits to the same-sex partner of someone who dies. This inequality costs LGBTQ elders $124 million a year. Medicaid, tax laws, pensions, etc. pay all be uphill battles for LGBTQ seniors and their families.

So, KNOW MORE this year. Visit the National LGBT Health Awareness website and download their resources and get involved. Don’t know what to do? Check out this great list of ideas.