Last week,  city of Starkville officials downplayed the unauthorized press release by the Human Rights Campaign that lauded the city for giving equal rights to  LGBT workers by calling the change in the insurance plan as a benefit to all,  not just one specific group.
The Board of Aldermen unanimously passed a decision Tuesday, which made available a plus-one option for all city employees on their insurance plans.
Ward 5 alderman Scott Maynard said a lot of employees for the city do not need entire family coverage.
“It may be a single mother with a child or a married couple that need to cover just the spouse, so what we adopted was an employee-plus-one option,” he said. “The plus-one could include a child, a spouse, a common law partner, a dependent parent; so there are lots of options under that plus-one, but it gives the opportunity for affordable insurance to people that may not been able to afford the entire-family coverage.”
Maynard clarified the plus-one does not look at the gender of the spouse.
“If you are going to use the plus-one, you got to certify that person has lived with you for the past 12 months. There are other qualifying criteria that will be included in that,” Maynard said. “I think it is good for all the employees of the city that we adopt this policy. It gives additional options to those that didn’t have options before.”
The press release released by the HRC from Washington, D.C. read, “This week, Starkville became the first city in Mississippi to extend essential medical benefits to the partners of city workers who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT).  Today the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights organization, commended the mayor and Board of Aldermen for acknowledging the dignity and worth of LGBT citizens in Starkville.”
Previously, the city of Starkville’s insurance plan gave the employees an opportunity to purchase insurance for other people through the $600 family plan only, but the new one gives cheaper options. An additional member will only cost $348, and an employee can add unlimited children at $269 per month.
No Starkville city official has authorized or responded to the HRC press release on-record as erroneously claimed by some media reports.