Larimer County this week expanded health care programs for residents and employees — including insurance benefits for same-sex partners.
Larimer is the first county on the Front Range and the largest in the state to extend insurance to gay couples, said Wynette Reed, the county’s director of human resources.
“Everyone deserves to have health insurance,” Reed said.
County commissioners voted 2-1 Tuesday to offer the same health-insurance program to employees in a same-sex relationship as the county does to those in a committed heterosexual relationship or traditional marriage.
They also agreed to join a program that offers discount prices on medications not covered by insurance.
To qualify for health benefits, an employee would have to sign a notarized affidavit stating he or she is living in a committed relationship. Those in a common-law marriage follow the same procedure, Reed said.
Reed told the commissioners that the county needed to offer a same-sex benefit package to stay competitive with the private sector.
“As the labor market shrinks, we have to be able to compete against companies offering these benefits to prospective employees,” she said.
Dave Morante, vice president of people services for McWhinney — a developer in Loveland — told the commissioners that the company’s same-sex benefits package is good for recruiting.
“It helps us show that we provide a workplace that is accepting for lots of different types of people,” he said.
Larimer will begin enrolling employees July 1.
Commissioner Glenn Gibson voted against the proposal, saying the state has not legalized domestic partnerships, Reed said. Gibson couldn’t be reached for comment.
The drug-discount card program, sponsored by the National Association of Counties, will result in an average savings of 20 percent off the retail price of commonly prescribed drugs.
The county is ordering 70,000 cards printed in English as well as 10,000 cards in Spanish, Reed said. Douglas County also participates in the effort, which has yielded positive results, Reed said.
“It’s a benefit we could offer citizens to deal with the high costs of prescriptions that are not covered by insurance,” she said.
The free cards will be available by June.
