California Insurance Code

§ 10121.7

INS § 10121.7 Effective Jan 1, 2012Div. 2 · Part 2 · Ch. 1 · Art. 1

Statute text

(a)A policy of group health insurance that provides hospital, medical, or surgical expense benefits shall provide equal coverage to employers or guaranteed associations, as defined in Section 10700, for the registered domestic partner of an employee, insured, or policyholder to the same extent, and subject to the same terms and conditions, as provided to a spouse of the employee, insured, or policyholder, and shall inform employers and guaranteed associations of this coverage. A policy shall not offer or provide coverage for a registered domestic partner that is not equal to the coverage provided to the spouse of an employee, insured, or policyholder, and shall not discriminate in coverage between spouses or domestic partners of a different sex and spouses or domestic partners of the same sex. The prohibitions and requirements imposed by this section are in addition to any other prohibitions and requirements imposed by law.

(b)If an employer or guaranteed association has purchased coverage for spouses and registered domestic partners pursuant to subdivision (a), a health insurer that provides hospital, medical, or surgical expense benefits for employees, insureds, or policyholders and their spouses shall enroll, upon application by the employer or group administrator, a registered domestic partner of the employee, insured, or policyholder in accordance with the terms and conditions of the group contract that apply generally to all spouses under the policy, including coordination of benefits.

(c)For purposes of this section, the term “domestic partner” shall have the same meaning as that term is used in Section 297 of the Family Code.

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Legislative history

Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 722, Sec. 4. (SB 757) Effective January 1, 2012.