This is just plain silly.
University of Florida employees have to pledge that they’re having sex with their domestic partners before qualifying for benefits under a new health care plan at the university.
The partners of homosexual and heterosexual employees are eligible for coverage under UF’s plan, which will take effect in February. The enrollment process began this month, and some employees have expressed concern about an affidavit that requires a pledge of sexual activity.
Fielding questions about the pledge at a Faculty Senate meeting Thursday, UF’s vice president of human resources said he’s heard concerns about the affidavit, though overall feedback about the plan has been positive.
“I would say 95 percent of the affidavit is fine,” Kyle Cavanaugh said in an interview after the meeting.
In addition to declaring joint financial obligations, prospective enrollees must “have been in a non-platonic relationship for the preceding 12 months,” according to the affidavit.
Marylou Behnke, a UF senator, told Cavanaugh she found the requirement “offensive.”
As a member of the Senate, representing faculty in UF’s College of Medicine, Behnke said she was compelled to learn more about UF’s plan. She said she was taken aback to find that employees would be required to swear to prior sexual activity, a standard not applied to married couples covered by UF’s primary health care plan.
“Are you going to police it?” Behnke asked Cavanaugh.
Cavanaugh said he had no plans to personally enforce the sex pledge. The “non-platonic” clause is “increasingly standard” in domestic partnership plans, Cavanaugh said. The clause is one of several methods used to legally ensure that an employer is only obligated to cover employees in a committed relationship, not longtime roommates.
See what I mean? Silly bureaucratic crap.