Basic Health Insurance Rights of a Domestic Partner in Oregon

Domestic partnerships have been available in Oregon since 2008 through HB 2007, which was nominally amended through HB 2839 in 2009 (in effect since 2010). Domestic partners in Oregon have the right to file taxes jointly, and insurance companies are required to offer domestic partners plans identical to those offered to married couples.

Basics

• House Bill 2007 gives partners the right to file jointly on insurance and prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. To follow up, the Oregon Insurance Commissioner issued a bulletin in 2007 ordering group policies to treat domestic partnerships and married couples equally. Hence, domestic partners have the right to file jointly, to receive benefits under group policies identical to those offered to married couples, to deduct the cost of insurance from state tax returns and to have any specific rights that Oregon law designates for married couples with a joint insurance policy.

HB 2007

• House Bill 2007 was an "everything but marriage" law, meaning that the Oregon Legislature attempted to extend rights conferred by marriage to domestic partners in the state. The legislature's power to extend benefits is limited to Oregon state laws, since the federal government and most states do not recognize domestic partnerships.

HB 2839

• House Bill 2839 tweaked some language in HB 2007 and clarified the right of domestic partners to deduct the cost of insurance from state tax returns. This does not apply to federal tax returns, and domestic partners must still file separately at the federal level.

Definition

• These rights are only recognized if a person is in a domestic partnership registered with the state. In order to do so, a couple must go to their county clerk's office and fill out a form, including a declaration stating that they are two consenting adults not married or partnered with anyone else, not related by blood closer than second cousin, residents of Oregon and sharing a living space. Domestic partnerships are only available to same-sex couples in Oregon.

Legality

• According to Basic Rights Oregon, as of 2010 there is still some legal uncertainty as to whether or not all employers are legally bound to offer group policies to an employee's domestic partner. Basic Rights Oregon states that HB 2007 and HB 2839 do not explicitly require all employers to offer plans, though it is implied, and therefore it is possible that an employer may refuse to do so. However, the organization cites precedence in the state for a ruling favorable to domestic partners should the issue go to court.