By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York will provide a lesbian couple in the Buffalo area with family health insurance benefits.
We told you the story of Jeanne Kornowiz and her spouse Joy Higgins a few weeks ago. Kornowicz, a school psychologist in the Cheektowaga Central School district, was seeking family coverage. She and Higgins were legally married in Canada two years ago and they now have a one-year-old daughter.
While her employer was willing to provide the benefits, Blue Cross Blue Shield was not. So, Kornowicz went to the New York Civil Liberties Union, which filed suit on her behalf.
Monday, the NYCLU announced Blue Cross Blue Shield was reversing course and will begin covering married same-sex couples.
A staff attorney for the agency says lesbian families deserve the same protections that heterosexual families enjoy in New York.