Domestic partner health coverage for small ER groups?

[Guest Lisssi]

Our very small company (around 25 right now) would like to make domestic partners eligible for health coverage when our health plan contract comes up for renewal late this summer. But according to our insurance broker, most health plans don't extend domestic partner coverage to small employer groups-- you have to be at least 50 people to get this feature and even then it's difficult and can raise premiums significantly.

Has anyone else had experience looking for this as a small group? Does the above match your experience? And does anyone know of particular companies that offer domestic partner coverage to small groups?

I was surprised that this coverage was something that would cause difficulty.

Thanks,

Liss

[KIP KRAUS]

It doesn’t surprise me that insurance companies would not want to offer domestic partner coverage to a fully insured small medical plan. They probably don’t want the extra claims to jeopardize the experience pool. You may be hard pressed to find an insurer willing to do this.

If you have a good employee benefit broker, he/she should have all of the major group insurance markets covered and should know what he/she is talking about. This doesn't mean you shouldn't check with other brokers just for satisfaction. Call some and ask the question. They don't charge for questions.

[Guest Lisssi]

I'm definitely going to ask around a bit more but I've talked to a few other people in benefits since posting this and they say that our broker is correct.

I am surprised that including domestic partners would result in enough extra claims as to make this coverage near impossible for small groups, but I suppose there must be a lot of adverse selection.