Washington DC - (May 23, 2013) - Family Equality Council and the Center for American Progress today released a new guide to assist couples and parents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) access health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, or ACA.
The Affordable Care Act and LGBT Families: Everything You Need to Know is a comprehensive resource that will introduce families to the intricacies of enrollment, tax credits, shared responsibility payments, Health Insurance Marketplaces, and Navigators.
"The Affordable Care Act will make health insurance affordable for millions of more Americans, including families with parents who are LGBT," said Heron Greenesmith, Legislative Counsel for Family Equality Council, "Yet, LGBT families will face specific obstacles to accessing coverage because of the patchwork of federal and state laws governing health insurance. We hope this guide will serve as a basic intro to affordable health care."
Currently, the ACA prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and many states will be offering family plans that include same-sex parents and their children. But while the Defense of Marriage Act remains federal law, families with same-sex parents will have to apply for tax credits separately instead of as a family.
Family Equality Council and the Center for American Progress have been working closely to ensure the inclusive implementation of the Affordable Care Act and will continue to advocate for and educate the LGBT community as the ACA comes into full implementation in January, 2014.
Family Equality Council connects, supports and represents three million parents who are LGBT and their six million children. We work to change attitudes and policies across the country to ensure all families are respected, loved, and celebrated. For 30 years, our community has stood together to raise our children and raise our voices toward fairness for all. To learn more, please visitwww.familyequality.org .
The Center for American Progress is an independent nonpartisan educational institute dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action. Building on the achievements of progressive pioneers such as Teddy Roosevelt and Martin Luther King, our work addresses 21st-century challenges such as energy, national security, economic growth and opportunity, immigration, education, and health care. We develop new policy ideas, critique the policy that stems from conservative values, challenge the media to cover the issues that truly matter, and shape the national debate. To learn more please visitwww.americanprogress.org
