Health Insurance Coverage Cambridge, Massachusetts MA
Filed under: Health insurance agent, Instant health insurance
Reader’s Question:
My partner has health insurance coverage from the company where he works here in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Does this coverage also work for me even though we are not married?
Dante
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Dante, generally, employers are not required by any law to offer health insurance coverage to their employees, spouses and domestic partners. In the same way, those employers that offer health insurance coverage to their employees are also not required by any law to extend the health insurance coverage to the domestic partners. When I say domestic partners here, it includes same-sex couples and unmarried opposite-sex couples. These provisions are under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
It is always the prerogative of the employers whether they would offer health insurance coverage to their employees or not, or whether those that offer health insurance to their employees would extend the same coverage to their employees’ partners. But throughout the recent years, the number of employers who offer domestic partner benefits is already rising. I think this is to attract more employees with a competitive benefits plan.
Furthermore, in some states, there have already been laws passed which are in favor of the domestic partnership rights. There already are laws in some states granting same-sex couples almost all the benefits that married opposite-sex couples enjoy. But as far as I know, provisions governing health insurance are still in the process of being written, and no one knows yet what shall be under them.
For you to know if you are going to be covered as well by the health insurance offered to your partner by his company, I suggest that you tell your partner to discuss this with the people in his company there in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who are in charge of this benefit. I am sure they can give him answers.
Tags: health insurance
