NY: state must offer same insurance rights for same-sex couples

[Shana A]

NY: state must offer same insurance rights for same-sex couples

                  by: Pam Spaulding                 
             Mon Nov 24, 2008 at 06:00:00 AM EST                                                                                 

                             You can't get married yet in New Yoek, but if you were legally married elsewhere, couples are entitled to the same access to insurance as opposite-sex couples. (Bloomberg):e expect insurance companies to provide the same rights and benefits to all legally married couples, regardless of the sex of the spouses,'' Superintendent Eric Dinallo said today in an e-mailed statement. The decision follows an announcement by New York Governor David Paterson in May that state law requires agencies to honor out-of-state, same-gender marriages. A state Supreme Court judge in September dismissed a suit filed on behalf of state lawmakers who challenged Paterson's authority to issue the directive.