St. Luke's violating law by not offering benefits to same-sex spouses of Phillipsburg employees, group says

St. Luke's says it "will honor those legal requirements" under New Jersey's legalization of same-sex marriages but is not elaborating on when.

A New Jersey gay rights group says St. Luke’s University Health Network is violating state law by not immediately offering health benefits to spouses of their gay and lesbian employees at its Phillipsburg hospital.

The court-ordered legalization of same-sex marriage on Oct. 21 did not include any grace period for providing health benefits to same-sex legally married partners if a company also provides such benefits to other married partners, said Troy Stevenson, executive director for Garden State Equality.

“That’s the great thing about a court decision — it just goes into effect,” he said. “If they’re not doing it, they’re breaking the law.”

St. Luke’s officials on Oct. 24 said they were reconsidering their health benefits policy for their Phillipsburg employees. The Fountain Hill-based health network this week released a statement saying it “will honor those legal requirements,” but St. Luke’s officials declined to say when.

St. Luke’s opened enrollment for benefits Monday, allowing employees to make changes to their benefits for 2014, said Liz Bradbury, executive director of the Lehigh Valley-based Pennsylvania Diversity Network. Several employees at the health network’s Pennsylvania facilities were not allowed to enroll their same-sex spouses, and Bradbury said she expects it was the same situation for the Phillipsburg employees.

“This is the enrollment period and they have to do it,” Bradbury said. “When they have to do it, and they’re still not doing it — what does that say?”

Bradbury said she was encouraged by St. Luke’s updated stance that benefits would be offered to spouses of gay and lesbian employees in Phillipsburg but that those benefits should have started already.

A St. Luke’s statement Thursday said: “These recent legal developments have created new obligations to treat same-sex married couples as spouses in New Jersey, and St. Luke’s will honor those legal requirements.”

St. Luke’s spokeswoman Denise Rader on Friday said the company would not expand on the statement.

Complying with laws

Since shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act, gays and lesbians also have been permitted to leave their pension benefits to their spouses, which is another benefit St. Luke’s has yet to allow, Bradbury said. That benefit extends to employees in any federally regulated pension plan, which includes St. Luke’s employees in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Bradbury said.

St. Luke’s wouldn’t comment on pension benefits specifically. The company’s Thursday statement said: “St. Luke’s always has and will continue to comply with all applicable federal and state laws.”

The Pennsylvania Diversity Network also has been pushing for St. Luke’s to extend health benefits to the spouses of gay and lesbian employees at its Pennsylvania facilities, as well.

Bradbury said she was encouraged by additional comments in St. Luke’s most recent statement toward that end.

The health network said Thursday, “St. Luke’s is also actively considering extending these same benefits to all of their employees in Pennsylvania within the very near future.”

St. Luke’s again on Friday declined to provide any additional information on a timeline for offering benefits to its gay and lesbian employees in Pennsylvania. The current open enrollment period runs through the end of November.

Lehigh Valley Health Network already extends health benefits to spouses of its gay and lesbian workers, Bradbury said.

Hopeful worker

Allentown resident Jennifer Kelley, who works as a nurse at one of St. Luke’s Pennsylvania hospitals, married her partner Thursday in Phillipsburg with the hope of obtaining spousal health benefits from St. Luke’s, Bradbury said.

“I’m pleased that St. Luke’s is moving forward on this and talking more specifically about giving all their employees the full benefits in the near future, but I won’t be satisfied until these employees have the full benefits,” Bradbury said. “I want them to give the benefits. I don’t want them to talk about it.”