Dive Brief:
- Last week's landmark SCOTUS decision to legalize same-sex marriage in all 50 states is expected to impact the use and availability of health insurance benefits.
- It is expected that more employees will now include their same-sex partners in their health insurance policies.
- At the same time, more employers are now likely to drop their domestic partnership benefits, requiring gay employees to marry for benefits—which still presents legal pitfalls to some.
Dive Insight:
An estimated 77% of large employers currently offer same-sex domestic partner health benefits, according to the consulting firm Aon Hewitt. However, that may be about to change.
Some employers in states that already had legal same-sex marriage have already moved away from domentic partnership benefits for potential simplicity, cost savings and fairness.
"It just made it simpler to administer,” Excellus spokesman Jim Redmond told Modern Healthcare. "It simplified and clarified the parameters of who's eligible for coverage through the company benefit."
However, the Human Rights Campaign is among those urging employers to continue to offer domentic partnership benefits, given that marriage is public and effectively "outs" same-sex partners. Since not all states protect people from discrimination based on sexual orientation, those forced to marry for benefits could find themselves at risk of losing their jobs, housing, credit and more.
Experts add that domestic partnership benefits that are restricted to same-sex couples might now fail to stand up in court, but those programs that extend to both opposite- and same-sex couples might prove a worthwhile tool in attracting all workers who prefer to delay or avoid marriage yet still maintain committed relationships.