Domestic Partner Benefits
Domestic Partners (DP) are couples who are living together as partners without a marriage certificate. Domestic Partners love each other, support each other and live together, yet they miss out on many of the benefits of being married. ... “According to the 2000 Census, there are currently about 11 million people living with an unmarried partner in the U. ... “41% of Americans, ages 15-44 have cohabited (lived with an unmarried different-sex partner) at some point.” This is why domestic partner health coverage is becoming a wide spread issue. The Government of; Multnomah County, the City of Gresham and the State of Oregon are all required to provide the same benefits for all employees regardless of their marital status. ... This is called Domestic Partner insurance. On December 9, 1998 Oregon Appeals court passed a law requiring these municipalities to provide equal benefits to all employees. Many private companies throughout the US are now providing health benefits to their employees domestic partners and their partners families, including; Coca-Cola, Covington & Burlington, Ford Motor Co. ... Currently, 193 Fortune 500 Companies reported providing Domestic Partner benefits including; Nationwide, Charles Schwab (The Charles Schwab Corp. ... “More than 1/4 of Americans work for an employer that offers domestic partner benefits.” That leaves approximately 75% of unmarried families without benefits.