Ways to be Unmarried
| Living Single |
| Living Together |
| GLBT |
| Polyamory |
| MarriageFree & Boycott |
| Parents & Children |
| Commitment Ceremonies |
| Domestic Partner Benefits |
Syndicate
| Universal Health Care |
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The Alternatives to Marriage Project believes that access to health care in the United States should not be determined by relationship or marital status. Although we applaud efforts by some businesses to make health insurance more accessible (by offering domestic partnership benefits, for example), we advocate for a truly universal system that separates health care from employment.
In this section:
Problem: the current system discriminates The current health care system in the United States is flawed for many, many reasons. Marital status discrimination is built into the current system because it relies on employer-based health insurance. This forces each employer to decide whether to extend insurance to family members and how to define the relationships that constitute a family. There is no way to achieve equality for all individuals and families under this system. Therefore, it is disappointing that several states (notably Massachusetts), presidential candidates, and organizations are advocating health care reforms that continue to rely on employer-based insurance. Evidence of discrimination provided by hundreds of AtMP members Over 1,900 AtMP members provided detail responses to our online survey question "Have you experienced discrimination on the basis of your marital status?" Twenty percent cite discrimination in health insurance. In addition, over 830 members have written tales of woe concerning health insurance through the survey and/or personal emails. AtMP members have suffered from discrimination in access to health insurance in four ways: Most are upset that their employers will not extend insurance to unmarried partners. Many different-sex couples are upset that their employers extend insurance only to unmarried same-sex partners. Some are seeking alternatives to marriage because marrying would cause them to lose their disability insurance or military survivors' insurance. A small but significant number have married in order to get health insurance, and are upset that they were forced to compromise their values. (People who married for health insurance are undoubtedly more prevalent in society than in AtMP's mailing list, so here's a reminder: we welcome all married people to join AtMP in the fight against marital status discrimination!) Besides insurance, AtMP members have also suffered from other health-care related discrimination, such as being penalized for taking time off work to care for their unmarried family members.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Evidence of discrimination provided by other organizations A study by UCLA's Williams Institute (PDF) found that "employers' health insurance coverage for legal spouses places unmarried couples at a disadvantage for obtaining coverage... [P]eople with same-sex or different-sex unmarried partners are two to three times more likely to be uninsured than married people, even after controlling for factors influencing coverage." A study by Women's Voices, Women Vote (PDF) found that affording health care is a bigger problem for unmarried Americans than married ones. More than 14% of unmarried voters – and almost 20% of unmarried non-voters – were unable to pay for necessary care in the past year (compared to less than 5% of married voters). Solution: truly universal health care We are not health care reform experts, but as advocates for unmarried people we see the separation of marital and relationship status from health care as a necessary criteria for a truly universal health care system in the U.S. Health care does not depend on marital or relationship status in other industrialized countries. Providing equal access to high-quality, affordable health care by separating health insurance from employment would improve unmarried people's quality of life. It would improve the health of unmarried people. It would improve the job satisfaction of unmarried people. It would help reduce the disparities in income and wealth between married and unmarried people. It might even result in better marriages: people could marry when they really want to, rather than rush into (or postpone) marriage – despite misgivings – because they need the health insurance. Resources:
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