NY RECOGNIZES CANADIAN SSM: From the Empty Closet

John Galanti and John Hotchkiss, with the help of Lambda Legal Education and Defense Fund, have won recognition of their legal Canadian marriage in the form of insurance coverage from a local town government and two providers, Blue Cross Blue Shield (the third largest provider in N.Y.S.) and Health Economics Group. ...

Hotchkiss added, "I have my own coverage through the Postal Service, but after retirement my health premiums would jump, which won't be the case with John's plan... We're registered as a married couple through Blue Choice. We've filed a petition with the New York State Department of Tax and Finance to be allowed to file a joint tax return for the state."

The issue of tax filing was complicated, since the couple was advised by Alphonso David that they would end up paying more if they filed jointly. "We figured we'd come this far -- and it's just a few hundred dollars we'd be paying," Galanti said. "We wanted to go ahead on principle." ...

At the time when the two men were applying for joint insurance coverage, State Comptroller Alan Hevesi announced that everyone working within the state retirement system would have their legal marriages recognized by the state, including Canadian marriages of same-sex couples. NYS Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's March 4 ruling that legal marriages performed out of state should be recognized here was also a factor in enabling the couple to win recognition for their relationship.

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posted by Eve at 3:51 PM VOTE

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