House Health Bill Expands Tax Benefits To Same-Sex Partners
By Martin Vaughan, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- House legislation that would overhaul health care
would also expand tax benefits for employer-provided health insurance to same-
sex partners.
The provision authored by Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., was a last-minute
addition to a $1 trillion-plus health-care rewrite being considered by the House
Ways and Means Committee Thursday.
"The provisions added to the Chairman's mark would eliminate the added tax
burden incurred by same-sex partners, as well as other non-spouse, non-dependent
beneficiaries who are offered employer health benefits," Human Rights Campaign
President Joe Solmonese wrote to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles
Rangel, D-N.Y., in a letter of support.
Expanding tax benefits to same-sex partners of covered employees - as well as
opposite-sex domestic partners or adult children of employees - is estimated to
cost the government $4 billion over the next 10 years.
A second last-minute addition to the bill is a provision to exclude over-the-
counter drugs from eligibility for reimbursement by a flexible-spending account
plan. That provision would raise $8 billion over 10 years, more than offsetting
the cost of the domestic partner provision.
The measure to extend tax benefits for health coverage to domestic partners
has broad support from the business community. A coalition of dozens of Fortune
500 firms including the Chubb Corporation (CB), General Mills Inc. (GIS),
Marriott International, Inc. (MAR), and Nike Inc. (NKE) has been lobbying for
the provision.
Under current law, the value of employer-provided health benefits may be
excluded from income tax for certain dependents. Those dependents include a
qualifying child, a spouse, or other qualifying relative supported by the
employee.
Many employers offer coverage for domestic partners - more than 57% of Fortune
500 companies, according to the Human Rights Campaign - but employees must pay
tax on the value of that coverage if they elect it.
The McDermott provision added to the House health-care bill has 11 House co-
sponsors, including one Republican, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.
-By Martin Vaughan, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9244; martin.vaughan@
dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
07-16-091053ET
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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