State Farm Insurance in Illinois already offers health insurance benefits to its employees, and their spouses. Soon, it will expand the eligibility of its employee benefits to include the same-sex partners of its employees, as well. This is in response to an Illinois law that will take effect June 1, 2011.
Beginning on June 1, 2011, a brand new law will take effect in Illinois. From that day forward, Illinois will legally recognize civil unions for gay couples and for lesbian couples. The same law also extends many other significant legal protections to same-sex partners that previously were only applicable to people who were married, or who got a civil union, and were of the opposite sex.
State Farm has over 68,000 employees in Illinois. Currently the insurance company offers group health and welfare plans to its employees, retirees, agents, and agent staff. Previously, State Farm was doing what a lot of other companies were doing. It offered health insurance to its employees, and allowed them to attach their husband or wife to the insurance. In accordance with the new law, State Farm will soon allow employees to enroll a “legally recognized” same-sex spouse, civil union partner, or domestic partner onto their health insurance. This is the first time the insurance company has allowed this.
What does State Farm consider to be a “legally recognized relationship”? It could be a marriage between a man and a woman. It could be a same-sex marriage (which Illinois doesn’t recognize, but some other states do). It could be a civil union between two people of the same-sex or a civil union between two people of the opposite sex. It could also be a domestic partnership.
State Farm will also allow employees to extend their health insurance benefits to a person with whom the employee is in “a substantially similar legal relationship”. I do not know exactly what that means to State Farm, but I guess it gives the insurance company a little breathing room within its rules.
It seems to me there are two key points here. First of all, employees of State Farm must be in a partnership that is legally recognized in order to be allowed to attach that partner to the employee’s health insurance. It seems that in order for State Farm to be in compliance with the new Illinois state law, the insurance company must offer the same benefits to couples who are of the opposite sex as well as to couples who are of the same sex.
The employee benefits include more than just a standard health insurance policy. They also give an employee access to medical care, dental care, vision care, a life insurance policy for their spouse, long term care insurance, and a spouse voluntary accidental death and dismemberment plan. Once a legally recognized partner has been enrolled the employee’s insurance, and has been accepted, the coverage starts immediately, with no waiting period.
Image by Ludovic Bertron on Flickr