Domestic Partners’ Health Insurance Missouri MO
Reader’s Question:
I work in a company here in Missouri that offers health insurance. I wonder if I can extend these benefits to my domestic partner of almost ten years.
Ray
Kansas City, MO
Generally, the answer to your question would be no. This is because no law mandates companies to offer any health insurance benefits either to their employees nor to the spouses, children or partners of their employees. And also, no law mandates employers to extend the health benefits that they offer their employees to the spouses, children or partners of their employees.
But what you have to do is consult with your company’s human resource personnel in order to be sure.
Recently, employers across the country have been giving their employees reliable health benefit packages to keep up with the competition of acquiring and keeping efficient employees. Large companies have been already doing this for years, and so small companies follow.
Anyway, to give you some idea regarding your case, if your employer does indeed allow extending your health benefits to a domestic partner, certain things still have to be considered. Different employers have different definitions of domestic partner. Some would consider same-sex couples, others would not. Some employers would only allow extension of health benefit for civil union partners only. This is what you will have to check with your company. But whatever the case is, usually the partners are asked to fill out an affidavit that states that the partners are in a loving and committed relationship. Also, the period of living together may also count.
Like what I have already said, check with the human resource department of your company. They should give you answers to your questions. Because, personally, I don’t know how things run there in Missouri.
Tags: health insurance, insurance, insurance advice