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Physician urges board to reconsider domestic‑partner coverage; staff to present history and legal limits
Summary
Dr. Leisha Berry urged the PEBB to broaden dependent eligibility beyond marriage or the age‑62 registry, calling the current policy coercive and harmful to LGBTQ and low‑income employees. Staff said the policy has a complex legal history and will return with an authority analysis.
Dr. Leisha Berry, an incoming University of Washington physician and union member, told the board her partner of seven years would be excluded from coverage under current rules because they are not legally married. She asked the board to "reexamine your current policy, which denies health coverage to domestic partners unless they are legally married or over 62," and urged adoption of an affidavit‑based process used elsewhere. "Nobody should be forced into a government sanctioned relationship to access basic health care," Dr. Berry said.
Staff replied that the issue has a "multiyear complex history," noting a domestic partner registry once allowed broader eligibility, but that legislative changes and legal risk analyses altered the policy. Dave said staff will prepare a return presentation that lays out the history and clarifies which aspects the board can change administratively versus which require legislative action.
