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Same-Sex Spouses in New York Will Get Heatlh Insurance
According to the state insurance department, an employer that provides coverage to spouses must now also extend that coverage to same-sex spouses who were legally married in New York. New York recently became the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage. Couples that marry will gain a variety of other legal and financial benefits as well, but the ability to add a spouse to an employer’s plan may be one of the most significant. The New York State Insurance Department issued guidance in 2008 clarifying its position, noting that same-sex spouses were indeed to be treated as spouses for health insurance purposes (and other insurance matters as well).Still, there could be some instances were spouses may not be eligible for coverage. Employers who don’t contract with an insurance company but instead pay for health benefits out of their own assets —-so-called;self-insured plans;- ;are not subject to the state's insurance laws. Instead, the plans are governed by a federal law, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, known as Erisa, which is likely to rely on the federal definition of marriage (one man and one woman).
Source:New York Times