The same –sex marriage in the United States has brought about various controversial issues among the members of the public. Same sex marriage or partnerships also gay and lesbian relationships between people of the same sex. The federal government of the United States does not recognize this form of marriages some states like Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut among others have granted licenses for same sex marriages.
This paper will discuss the impact of these policies on health insurance covers to same sex couples. The paper is in support of provisions of health insurance benefits to partners of the same sex as part of their human right. The paper will also tough on the high health risk which the lesbian, gays and bisexual individuals are exposed to.
Medical insurance cover
Sexual orientation is part of our modern-day world which has become highly diverse. I am not gay but I believe all human beings should be treated equally no matter their ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation and color. Gay women and men live in a form of domestic partnership mainly because they cannot get married like the straight people. Also other straight individuals also live in a form of domestic arranged based on their personal reasons. Therefore domestic partnership is a term which refers to the transgendered, heterosexual and homosexual people. This therefore makes us why there is inequality in treating people in domestic partnership?
Health insurance being the basic aspect to all Americans should be provided to everyone all employed citizens and employers have a responsibility of making it available. Gay couples since the start of the decade have fought tirelessly to be provided with their basic human rights. They do not enjoy the same benefits we enjoy ranging from Social security to health insurance covers, yet heterosexual women and men fall in love decide to get married and live together happily. The sad aspect however is that the same sex orientation men and women are not able to validate their bond under the state laws.
The only states which recognize same sex marriages are Connecticut and Massachusetts (Rotello, 1998).Marriage comes along with other befits beyond partnership. Married coupes are able to be covered by one health insurance cover when one of the couple is working. The benevolence of an employer will determine if couples in domestic partnership will enjoy the same benefit as those who are married. This is because married couples who are heterosexual enjoy certain benefits which are not acceptable to the homosexual couples in domestic partnerships or in a civil union.
Unlike other states, California and New Yoke have become more enlightened because in these states, they accept and recognize homosexual domestic partnership is in the same way as those in heterosexual partnerships. Heterosexual couples are only allowed to get married in Connecticut and Massachusetts but other states like Alabama and Georgia do not accepted. This efforts how that all the other states should also recognize that heterosexual couples are like other human beings and they disserve to be given their right of association and communication as well as to be provided with an opportunity to also benefit from all the social aspects (Rotello, 1998).
Universal health care opportunity has to be implemented in the United States which enables all Americans to gain access to medical care and treatment. The heterosexual couples who are denied access to medical treatment and care means that they don not have health insurance covers. This means that they have to spend more money t for every visit which can go up to them paying $ 100 only for consultation.
Healthcare expenses without the support of insurance covers have forced many heterosexual partners to spend lots of money without saving any or buying their things like houses and cars.Married people despite having problems with healthcare insurance, they at least do not face the big challenge of discrimination. straight people living in domestic partnerships are not married which is the source of problems for them to gain health insurance. So the major question is if two people have decided to live together no matter their sexual orientation, why can’t they be given health insurance covers?
More so is the fact that stability is not gained in marriages because of divorces which are on the rise, so then why do the domestic partnership be seen as source of stable relationships? Currently we have seen many domestic partners who have lively in harmony and have raised families similar to those of married people. Therefore why then are they not eligible members of the society to be provided with insurance covers?
Healthcare benefits and effects on society
Currently, there are approximately 500, 000 children in the United States who are under care of foster care. While another group of 120, 000 children spend their lives in public child welfare system with no effective policies to allow nurturing and responsible adults to adopt them. Federal protection is not equivalently given to children 1- 9 million children do not enjoy federal protection in the United States without their own fault. Adoption situations should first weigh the best interest of a child. Social and health service organizations have made efforts in encouraging adoption support from gay and lesbian parents.
Other major child and medical welfare organizations have also supported parenting by gay and lesbian adults. Such organizations are the American Psychological Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, Child welfare league of America, American Medical Association and the National Association of Social Workers.Currently there are three states in the US which are against adoption which prohibit gay and lesbian couples from adopting children even when the parents are well able in terms of finances and behavior to adopt a child and even when they have had experience in caring for their own children. Other four states do not allow adoptions by second-parents. Many other states have parenting laws especially on transgender and gay couples which are unclear.
This is a time to mind about those children who are placed in public welfare system who have been torn aware from direct adult care, and have never received proper nurturing and care. This is the time also to think of these children whereby they have never in their life time called someone dad or mom.Children therefore have limited protection because parents have been faced with the challenge of caring and protracting their children. On the contrary, limited laws are not available to encourage same sex couples to provide financial and emotional security to children. The currently state and federal regulations have only extended protection to married couples as well as their families but not necessarily on same sex couples.
The Family and Medical Leave act for example requires that a parent who is married can ask for leave to provide care to his or sick child. The same right is not given to a married gay or lesbian couple who has adopted a partner’s child and this can make them loose their jobs. The federal government and many companies do not provide the same health insurance benefits to those employees who are gay. Health insurance covers do not include their children and partners.Health insurance covers should therefore be provided to same sex couples because the main victims are the children. For example when a heterosexual parent dies the spouse and the children will still benefit from the Social security.
This financial security is however a major problem to same sex couples despite their hard work and are not guaranteed of their future retirement life and financial security for themselves and their families. It is important to imagine the lives of those children cared for by homosexual couples and how their lives would be when they parents unexpectedly die. Therefore the real victims of these government regulations and laws are the children. This therefore is a time to call for changes in the society and to consider how best children in the society can be helped by encouraging homosexual couples to adopt children in need of parental love and care. This is the way we can see the society developing and growing forward.
Health risks of gay sex greater than that of straight people
Sexual relationships among same sex partners, lesbians, gays, and bisexuals exposes them to extremely very high health risks such as physical injuries, sexual transmitted Diseases, shorten life span and mental disorders. The five major distinctions of the health related risks between heterosexual and gay relationships are, promiscuity levels, physical health’, life spasm, mental health and monogamy
Before the AIDS epidemic, a study was conducted in 1798 which found that gay white males claimed to have over 1000 lifetime partners who are males. In the study the statistics indicated that 28% claimed that they had had over 1000 lifetime male partners 15% had 500-999 and 17% had had 250-999 male sex partners. These high levels of promiscuity to fall after HIV campaigns were innovated (Alan and Martin, Weinberg, 1978, pp 308).
However currently these levels of promiscuity are beginning tom rises to the 1970s levels. This promiscuity has great medical consequences ranging from the high risk of contracting STDs and HIV/ AIDS to physical injury (CDC 2001).Physical injuries are also another health risks which gay and lesbian as well as the bisexuals are exposed to. Sexual practices practiced by gay men leads to physical injuries and expose them to high risk of contracting Sexually Transmitted diseases. Lesbians are not left out from the high degree of risk in physical injuries and STDS and HIV/AIDS.
There is also a high rate of psychiatric illness among lesbians and gays. They are more likely to suffer from drug abuses, depressions, and suicide attempts. This is especially seen in Netherlands where same sex marriages are more acknowledged and accepted than here in the United States. Drug abuse and depression are associated with risky sexual behaviors which makes people to suffer from serious medical conditions.Epidemiological study on the life span of lesbian, bisexuals, and gay has indicated that they lose their life expectancy by 20 years (Diggs, 2002).Among gay men it is rare for them to practice monogamy which is life time fidelity towards one partner.
Studies have revealed that 66% of GLB relationships have other outside relationships at each given year and also 90 % of them have experienced outside relationships n cases where partners have been together for a period of 5 years.Healthy sexual behavior is called for because this is the only way people can live health lives and to prevent people from shortening their life span. Many young lesbians and gays have died from sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/ AIDS. Sexual promiscuity leads to a high rate of diseases spread from the trivial ones to the most deadly diseases.
The Center of disease Control and Prevention has estimated that there are 65 millions Americans suffering from sexually transmitted diseases which are incurable (Rotello, 1998).Male homosexual behaviors pose a greater risk on health than woman- man sex mainly because of the nature of sexual intercourse among men. According to a British researcher, he indicates that male homosexual behavior can ether be passive or active because of hand-anal, mouth –penile and penile-annual sexual contact done by both partners. Mouth -anal contact causes higher risks of diseases due to bowel pathogens among partners. Micro-organisms are encourages through trauma which causes syphilitic lesions around the anogenital area.
Another activity which is anal-genital practiced by gay men tampers with human physiology in that there is a difference between the vagina and the rectum in regard to the penis suitability to penetrate. Network muscle and virginal lubrications are available in a virginal but not in the rectum. The anus has a delicate mechanism which does not support lubrication, friction, repeated trauma and stretching leads to the loosening of the sphincter and loses its ability to remain as a tight seal. Consequently the person will suffer form leaking of fecal material making it to become a chronic disease (Diggs, 2002).
Granting full healthcare benefits
President Obama in June 19th 2009 signed an executive b order to provide same sex partners with benefits who are under the federal employees. He said that major work still needs to be done by the governments so as to ensure that all citizens are treated in an equal way. To my option , gay sex should not be seen as a factor in considering full healthcare benefits because, gays are also human being and citizens of the United States who deserve to enjoy their human rights and to have access to social opportunities irrespective of their sexual orientation.
Same sex partners under president Obama memorandum gave them an opportunity to be provides with long term health care program, just like any other civil servant and employee in America. The same sex partners can also benefit from the sick leaves to take care of the children in their domestic partnerships. Also those working as foreign services employees are included in housing allocation and medical evacuation programs (CNN politics, 2010).The memorandum does not however grant same sex partners full coverage of health café ass required by the Congress act.
This means that the gay and lesbian community still has not attained their full civil equality,. according to the Congress Budget Office of 2004, it assumed that about 0.6 adults who are into same sex marriages would improved the bottom line of the budget in a small extend if the country legalizes same sex marriages. The improvement will see that the government will be spending approximately $1 billion each year. The organization indicates that same sex marriage recognition would increases the Federal full healthcare benefit employees Health Benefits and Social security as government expenses but this expenses will be made up through the decreases of Supplemental Security income, medicare, and Medicaid expenses (Congress Budget Office, 2004).
Conclusion
Offering health insurance covers and Securities enables gay partners to have access to health care; it is part of their basics human rights to be provided with health care just like the straight couples. Offering such covers is to assist the children of the same sex couples. They should also be provided with the right to adopt children whom have never seen parental love and care because this is a way every individual can participate in social development. Gays and lesbians even bi sexual should be advised on the health risk they pose themselves through the dangerous sexual behaviors involved.
Reference
CNN politics (2010). Obama OKs some benefits for employees’ same-sex partners. Retrieved from
http://articles.cnn.com/2009-06-16/politics/obama.same.sex.benefits_1_partners-of-federal-employees-same-sex-partners-lisa-p
On March 24, 2011
Congressional Budget Office (2004) The Potential Budgetary Impact of Recognizing Same-Sex Marriages. Retrieved from
http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=5559
On March 24, 2011
Rotello, G (1998) Sexual Ecology: AIDS and the Destiny of Gay Men, New York: Penguin Group, p. 112,
Alan P. Bell and Martin S. Weinberg, (1978) Homosexuality: A study of Diversity among Men and Women, New York: Simon and Schuster, p. 308.
Factoidz, 2011 Employee Health Benefits: Are Heterosexual and Homosexual Domestic Partnerships Treated Fairly by Their Employers? .retrieved from
http://factoidz.com/employee-health-benefits-are-heterosexual-and-homosexual-domestic-partnerships-treated-fairly-by-their-employers/
On March 24, 2011
Give a damn campaign (2010) damn issues parenting. Retrieved from
http://www.wegiveadamn.org/issues/adoption/
On March 24, 2011
CDC (2001) Basic Statistics— Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/hiv/stats.htm.
On March 24, 2011
Diggs, J (2002) the Health Risks of Gay Sex. Retrieved from
http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/homosexuality/ho0075.html
On March 24, 2011
