Lack of Same-sex Benefits Costly for Pennsylvania Professors
HARRISBURG, Pa.
State university professor Rita Drapkin considers herself a married woman, even though Pennsylvania doesn’t sanction gay marriage.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania provides health insurance only to Drapkin, who is assistant director of the school’s counseling center, and not to her lesbian partner of 28 years.
While Drapkin contributes almost $400 a year from her paycheck toward her own health plan, her partner, Cindy Klink, a freelance concert producer, is covered by private health insurance that costs roughly $3,600 and only covers catastrophic illness.
“It’s been incredibly frustrating,” said Drapkin, 54, a tenured professor at the school in western Pennsylvania.
As more colleges and universities nationwide extend health care benefits to same-sex partners, the faculty union that represents 5,500 professors at Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities is still waiting for them — even though a contract ratified more than a year ago opened the door to same-sex benefits.
