At a House Health and Welfare committee meeting in early March, Ramsey was testifying about U of L's opposition to a senate bill that would bar all state agencies from offering health insurance coverage to the unmarried partners of their employees. The bill was aimed at stopping U of L from offering coverage to the gay partners of U of L employees.
During his testimony, Ramsey was repeatedly asked by state rep. Bob Damron if U of L was subsidizing coverage for the domestic partners. Ramsey said "no", not according to actuaries. Ramsey said the U of L employees were paying the full cost of the extra coverage for their partner. Damron, an insurance agent, didn't buy it and told Ramsey so, causing a sharp exchange between the two. The bill was killed. But now it turns out, U of L IS subsidizing a "small portion" of that coverage, according to Ramsey. In other words, taxpayers and students are paying some money to help cover unmarried lovers of university employees. UPDATE: According to a U of L spokesperson, NO PUBLIC money will be used to subsidize the cost of the insurance. U of L will get private donors to foot the bill, allowing Ramsey to keep his promise that no tax money or university funds will be used. At last check, just 8 employees had signed up for the domestic partner benefits package so U of L will only need about $3000 in private funds to cover the entire cost, according to U of L.

So Ramsey was in Frankfort, meeting with Damron and other legislators who were led by a Family Foundation push to believe that Ramsey had lied to them. In separate interviews, Ramsey told me he was telling the truth at the time of the meeting. An actuarial study done in 2006 had concluded that the premiums charged would cover all the medical bills. That hasn't turned out to be the case. Ramsey also says U of L will look for ways to make sure the domestic partner insurance controversy doesn't get ugly in the 2008 legislative session. He wouldn't say how he plans to dampen that controversy, but he's not going to ask the U of L Board of Trustees to back off the policy. Ramsey believes it fosters campus diversity and helps U of L keep and recruit star researchers and teachers. Rep. Damron says he's not mad at Ramsey and doesn't think the controversy over Ramsey's statements will hurt U of L's credibility with lawmakers. But Damron does expect the legislature to ban domestic partner benefits at state agencies next year.