Plaintiffs are three California public employees and their same-sex spouses, who are in long-term committed relationships legally recognized in California as both marriages and registered domestic partnerships. California Public Employees' Retirement System CalPERS provides retirement and health benefits, including long-term care insurance, to many of the state's public employees, retirees, and their families.
Federal Defendants move to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12 b 1 , on grounds that this Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction because Plaintiffs do not have standing. In addition, Federal Defendants move to dismiss Plaintiffs' action under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12 b 6 for failure to state claims for violations of equal protection and substantive due process. State Defendants have answered the complaint and do not join the motion to dismiss.
Pursuant to California law, Defendant CalPERS Board of Administration offers public employees and their families the opportunity to purchase long-term care insurance during periodic open enrollment periods. Long-term care insurance has advantages which health and disability insurance, Medicare and MediCal generally do not offer. The official guide explaining the CalPERS LTC Program states that "Medicare, Medigap and health insurance may cover very limited long-term care," and such plans "were designed to pay for hospital and doctor care -- not extended, personal care.
The CalPERS guide further warns, "Medi-Cal only pays for long-term care after [an individual has] exhausted most of [his or her] own assets and income. Furthermore, long and short term disability insurance policies generally only "replace lost income due to disability" and "most long-term care is paid directly by individuals and their families. Accordingly, the insurance offered by the CalPERS LTC Program provides control over where and how an individual receives care, allows an individual to preserve assets for other uses, and helps reduce the high financial and emotional cost of long-term care.
The CalPERS LTC Program, and long-term care insurance in general, are an important option for individuals and families to safeguard their financial and emotional well-being. As noted above, the United States has provided important tax benefits for long-term care insurance policies. Premiums for qualified long-term care contracts are treated as medical expenses and may be claimed as itemized deductions. Benefits received under a qualified long-term care insurance contract are excludable from gross income.
