Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/105734 
Year of Publication: 
2004
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 2004-13
Publisher: 
University of Massachusetts, Department of Economics, Amherst, MA
Abstract: 
Employers' standard practice of including legal spouses in health insurance is likely to place people in unmarried couples at a significant disadvantage for obtaining coverage. Data from married and unmarried couples in the Current Population Survey confirm that people with unmarried partners are two to three times more likely to lack health insurance than are people in married couples, even after controlling for factors that influence coverage. A requirement to provide the same benefits for partners as are provided to spouses would reduce the proportion of uninsured people in same-sex couples and different-sex couples by as much as 50%. We find no evidence of adverse selection. We predict that a typical employer offering domestic partner coverage will see a small increase in enrollment, ranging from 0.1% to 0.3% for same-sex partners and 1.3% to 2.1% for different-sex unmarried partners.
Subjects: 
health
health insurance
benefits
employment benefits
health disparities
domestic partners
minorities
discrimination
gender
sexuality
sexual orientation
gay
lesbian
marriage
same-sex couples
JEL: 
J32
J38
J71
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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