Members of same-sex couples who married in states where same-sex marriage is legal and who are dependents of a CalPERS member will be eligible for state health, vision and dental coverage beginning Jan. 1.
SB 54, which was signed into law by Gov. Schwarzenegger last October, resolves ambiguities about how out-of-state same-sex marriages will be recognized in California, where same-sex marriage is not currently legal.
Officials at CalPERS and the Department of Personnel Administration said it is unknown how many CalPERS members may want to add their eligible same-sex partner to their plans for health, vision and dental care.
Members would not have to wait for open enrollment because the addition of a new member on a plan can be done at any time.
Although active eligible members must sign up for the plans through their employers, retired members should go to the CalPERS Web site -- www.calpers.ca.gov -- or call (888) 225-7377.
Dental coverage questions may be answered at www.deltadental.ca.gov or by calling (800) 225-3368.
For more information about retirees’ self-paid vision insurance, go to www.vsp.com/go/stateofca or call (800) 877-7195 .
Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, authored SB 54 to clarify that same-sex couples who married outside of California before Proposition 8 went into effect Nov. 5, 2008 are recognized as married spouses, not unlike the 18,000 same-sex marriages performed in California prior to Prop. 8.
The legislation also confirms that same-sex couples who married outside California after Prop. 8 went into effect or who plan to do so in the future must receive the same rights, protections, benefits, obligations and responsibilities afforded to opposite-sex spouses, with the sole exception of the designation of “marriage.”
While Prop. 8 prevents California from using the “marriage” designation for same-sex couples who marry after Nov. 5, 2008, the Supreme Court said its ruling “leaves undisturbed all of the other aspects of a same-sex couple’s constitutional right to establish an officially recognized and protected family relationship and to the equal protection of the laws.”