Tell Your Senator to Support the Equal Access to COBRA Act

Dana Rudolph
Dana Rudolph
Boston, MA, United StatesCreated March 31, 2010

Tell Your Senator to Support the Equal Access to COBRA Act

Boston, MA, United States
Created March 31, 2010

The Issue

The federal COBRA program allows people who have lost their jobs to continue employer-provided health insurance for up to 36 months. At a time of high unemployment, many families rely on such coverage. COBRA covers the former employee and beneficiaries, including opposite-sex spouses -- but not same-sex spouses or partners, even if they had been covered under the employer's plan.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) has introduced the "Equal Access to COBRA Act of 2010" (S. 3182), which would give same-sex partners the same access as married spouses to COBRA health coverage. The bill has just been referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Please send a message to your senators asking them to co-sponsor this legislation and support equality in health care coverage.

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Dana RudolphPetition StarterDana is the founder of Mombian, a leading blog of news and information for lesbian moms and other LGBT parents. She writes a syndicated column on LGBT parenting and also covers various other subjects for LGBT newspapers across the country. Additionally, she develops Web sites, blogs, podcasts, and other online content. Dana began her career in online business and marketing strategies during the first dotcom boom, and has worked at both the startup and corporate levels. Most recently, she was a vice president at Merrill Lynch, involved in the launch of several key online initiatives. She was also the first leader of the firm’s global LGBT employee network. Dana has a BA summa cum laude from Wellesley College and an M.Phil from Oxford University.
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This petition had 207 supporters

The Issue

The federal COBRA program allows people who have lost their jobs to continue employer-provided health insurance for up to 36 months. At a time of high unemployment, many families rely on such coverage. COBRA covers the former employee and beneficiaries, including opposite-sex spouses -- but not same-sex spouses or partners, even if they had been covered under the employer's plan.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) has introduced the "Equal Access to COBRA Act of 2010" (S. 3182), which would give same-sex partners the same access as married spouses to COBRA health coverage. The bill has just been referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Please send a message to your senators asking them to co-sponsor this legislation and support equality in health care coverage.

avatar of the starter
Dana RudolphPetition StarterDana is the founder of Mombian, a leading blog of news and information for lesbian moms and other LGBT parents. She writes a syndicated column on LGBT parenting and also covers various other subjects for LGBT newspapers across the country. Additionally, she develops Web sites, blogs, podcasts, and other online content. Dana began her career in online business and marketing strategies during the first dotcom boom, and has worked at both the startup and corporate levels. Most recently, she was a vice president at Merrill Lynch, involved in the launch of several key online initiatives. She was also the first leader of the firm’s global LGBT employee network. Dana has a BA summa cum laude from Wellesley College and an M.Phil from Oxford University.
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Petition created on March 31, 2010