Over the past several years, many major corporations decided to cover same-sex partners under their spousal and family health insurance policies. Though some new couples (gay or straight)don't realize it, they now have many of the same rights and benefits as traditional spouses and dependents. As with any other couple, it's merely a matter of sitting down and figuring out what type of coverage they need and what they can afford. To find out more, check out these sites:



www.hrc.org/issues/workplace/benefits/domestic_partner_benefits.htm www.healthsymphony.com/insurance101b.htm www.usinsuranceonline.com/healthinsurance/resources/domesticpartners.php

"Most companies I work with cover domestic partners these days," says Texas insurance agent Jaimie Marino, whose company, based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, has clients around the state. "The only thing you need to consider is that you can't have a spouse or significant other living at another address. If the [primary policy holder] fills out an applicant/spouse form, the insurance companies usually won't ask if you're officially married. They've never even have asked me or my clients how long they've lived together, much less whether they're married."

Marino deals with more than 20 companies, from Humana to Unicare to United, and he says that, "There's nothing that's going to trip up a domestic-partner couple that wouldn't come up for [traditionally] married people. In my experience, they don't even need a joint bank account. I've never had an insurance company ask. As long as they reside together and can prove that, it's fine."

According to the Human Rights Campaign, which began lobbying the insurance industry on behalf of gay, lesbian, and transgender couples in the 1980s, most employees require that a same-sex couple or domestic partnership be defined something like the following: "They are emotionally and financially interdependent, do not have a different domestic partner or spouse, have reached the age of consent, and are not related."

That definition applies to many couples now, says Michael Barnes, a writer for a daily newspaper (which provides coverage for him and his spouse, a freelancer).

"It has been left to localities and individual businesses and corporations to figure out what's best," says Barnes. "And that seems to be working nationally, because if there were a single plan or dictate enforced from above, it wouldn't work, whereas now it's almost all on a voluntary basis. And, from my research, it's clear that most of the Fortune 500 companies include some form of domestic partner benefits nowadays."

No question, the entire industry has changed dramatically in the past few years. This timeline notes how far the insurance industry has come over the past 20 years:

* In 1982, the Village Voice, based in New York, became the first employer to extend benefits to domestic partners of the same sex.

* By 1990, more than 20 American employers were offering "spousal equivalent" benefits to their employees' same-sex partners.

* As of 2006, a majority of Fortune 500 companies (the largest U.S. corporations) were providing health insurance for domestic partners of the same or opposite sex.

In short, don't be afraid to ask for domestic partner health insurance. Chances are, it's yours for the asking.