The University of Louisville's official release on their decision to offer domestic partner benefits contradicts the financial impact estimate from their own Faculty and Staff for Human Rights' November 16, 2005 recommendation for the policy.
The only possible conclusion to draw from the discrepancy is the University of Louisville wants to sneak domestic partner benefits past the unsuspecting taxpayer by denying the obvious existence of substantial costs to be borne by its implementation.
U of L Provost Shirley Willihnganz repeats the canard that only by covering healthcare for unmarried significant others will the university "compete more effectively." This is so ridiculous it shouldn't even have to be addressed.
But one thing does. Here is what Willihnganz said Thursday:
Initial research on the financial impact of offering health insurance to domestic partners has shown that the university’s costs are not likely to go up.
“We may actually end up saving money, since employees will pay a premium to cover their dependent partner,” Willihnganz said.
That is a little different than the estimate from last November's official recommendation:
At U of L, the possible fiscal impact on insurance costs based on current costs is about $200,000 for same sex domestic partners, and $600,000 for both same-sex and opposite sex domestic partners.
These amounts probably assume no fraud, so the total cost is likely much higher. Signing on as domestic partners means just stating they have been "in their relationship" for six months.
Is it any surprise that the cheering going on right now (here, here, here, here, here, and here) failed to mention this little nugget?
