Health care coverage for everyone is a big issue in the US these days. I'm all for it, if the government can come up with a workable plan. Good luck there!

In Arizona, there are a few municipalities that offer domestic partner registration and benefits. The City of Tucson adopted domestic partner registration a few years ago. The City of Phoenix also has domestic partner registration now (this was more recent than Tucson). Tempe also has similar regulations. However, much of the state, including the municipality I work for, do not have this. To be fair to my employer, I believe that city would have moved toward domestic partner benefits for its employees, but that pesky little recession got in the way. It should be pointed out that domestic partnerships do not include just same-sex couples, but also unmarried heterosexual couples.

About a year ago, then-Governor Janet Napolitano made a rule change, giving the state's employees domestic partner benefits. Of course, Janet Napolitano is now in Washington DC, the head of Homeland Security. She was replaced by Jan Brewer. Janet is a Democrat. Jan is a Republican. Arizona is a conservative state. And so, Jan Brewer has now signed a bill canceling the executive order issued by Janet Napolitano. This was, of course, explained as a cost-saving measure due to the recession. About 800 state employees are having their dependents stripped of their benefits. According to the Arizona Daily Star, it costs the state $3 million to cover domestic partners and $625 million for other employees and their dependents. HUGE saving. These dependents include children, full-time students, and disabled adults. Not to mention that the domestic partners are losing the benefits. This comes at a time when health care coverage in the US is in the news every day.

Although the governor won't say this is about morality, just use your head. A 3 million dollar saving out of 625 million? It was also estimated that if those who are now left without benefits go to the state Medicaid plan, the cost to the state would be about 7.25 million. Now, I'm not an aerospace engineer, but that would appear to be an increase in state expenditure.

Of course, the whole reason this is so near and dear to my heart is the fact that my partner is an unemployed artist. Not unemployed by choice, just unable to find employment in this current economy. She has had to go to the emergency room once and urgent care twice within the past three months. Without domestic partner benefits, I have had to pay out of pocket for the entire cost of the medical care, which as everyone knows, is just a tad bit expensive. For most LGBT people, living in unenlightened areas, it doesn't look like there's any relief coming any time soon.

I'd welcome any comments from anyone out there on what happens in your state/county/city.