Today I asked HR about declaring my fiance my "domestic partner" so that he could get health insurance through me. Texas doesn't have any kind of domestic partner laws, so it's just a non-gender-specific form that says you live together, love each other, and are financially responsible each other (and not related). HR said he could qualify if we submitted the form.
A co-worker told me that the domestic partner benefits for his partner (a stay-at-home dad) were quite expensive. I sent an email to HR about this, and they sent back this:
"Because of federal tax law, you pay domestic partner premiums after tax, and you are taxed on the employer contribution to that part of the plan. That contribution ranges from $125 to $250 a month, depending on the plan."
OK. So. If I were married, keeping this health care plan, which is a medium expense plan, my health insurance would go from $100 (pre tax) to $225 (pre tax). Thus, the cost of a spouse is $125 pre tax, or $83 a month.
For domestic partner benefits, I would pay $125 (post tax) plus taxes on $125-250, or about $50. So, the cost for a domestic partner is $175 a month.
Holy smokes! That's a lot of cash. Looks like for my family, a HSA ($70/month) will do. But this math is a $92 tax penalty month---or almost $1200 a year---just because the federal government taxes same-sex couples harshly. I wonder if it would be the same in a state with gay marriage...
2 comments:
It's exactly the same here in Massachusetts. Because it's a federal benefit,and the marriage is not recognized outside of the state, you don't get a penny.
It's still really neat being able to marry, though! One step at a time. I'm forty-nine, and never thought I'd live to see this!
Lisa
I ended up here wondering if anyone else went through this.
If I were married, health insurance costs for 2008 for my man and I would have been $806.
Because we took "advantage" of the domestic partnership plan, our 2008 health coverage actually costs $6079.32.
That's not a typo.
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