Skip to main content

Health Insurance for Unmarried Partners

Generally an employer has the benefit of offering health insurance benefits to their married partners but the same is not true for unmarried partners. According to ERISA (Employment Retirement Income Security Act) employers are not benefited to offer health insurance to any employees, spouse or domestic partners. It also doesn’t compel employers that provide health insurance for employees and legal dependents to cover or extend the coverage for domestic partners.

No doubt several employees across the country have begun offering domestic partner services in the last year and number continues to grow. Employment experts say that this trend is going to continue for a quite a long time as small companies will follow the large employer’s benefits which have been partnered in recent months.

In addition some state laws have also been passed in favor of domestic partner rights leading to offer the same benefits as that of married partners.

When domestic partner benefits are thought of, the level of coverage varies on the employer. Domestic partner benefits include long term care, group life insurance and other leaves which include health, dental and vision insurance. The definition of domestic partner benefits also varies from employer to employer. Some define it as unmarried couples some define as common law marriage. Regardless of how term is defined employers require domestic partners to sign an affidavit ensuring that they are having a lasting, committed relationship. It also requires a couple to live together for a specified time period to become eligible for domestic partner benefits.

Comments