In order to add someone to your health insurance policy, you must first show an insurable interest. If you live in a state where common law marriage is recognized, you can add your girlfriend to your policy as a spouse. The insurance company must recognize your arrangement if it is honored by law.

Since there is no legal financial obligation between yourself and your girlfriend, she cannot be added to most health insurance policies. Even if the law does not recognize common law marriage, you may be able to add your girlfriend as a domestic partner if your health insurer allows.

Do you have to provide health insurance to a domestic partner?

Domestic Partnership Tax and Exceptions. If a company’s health insurance plan permits employees’ unmarried partners to be covered and an employee is not married but in a committed relationship, the employer has to provide health insurance benefits on a post-tax basis.

Is the cost of domestic partner insurance the same as married employees?

As shared by the Human Rights Campaign, several studies by Hewitt Associates provide data that has shown that the cost of unmarried spouses does not increase costs more than 1-3% for an employer and that the actual costs for domestic partner benefits are the same as those of married employee “spousal” benefits.

Are there health insurance benefits for same sex spouses?

Since same-sex marriage became legal, a growing number of companies have eliminated their health insurance coverage for domestic partners. Their justification is that there’s no need to continue offering the coverage now that same-sex partners can legally get hitched and become same-sex spouses.

Are there any organizations that offer domestic partner benefits?

According to a 2008 report by the Human Rights Campaign Fund, 9,374 private employers, nonprofit organizations and unions offer domestic partner benefits to homosexual or unmarried heterosexual partners.