The rules on this will vary by state and might also vary by employer. Some states, like Texas, are “common law” states, so a couple can declare themselves married and will be viewed as such under the law. Other states may not recognize common law marriage. Similarly, some states/carriers might allow domestic partners to be covered, but this might be an employer-level decision.
For example, this was the response to an employer covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas that asked if an employee could cover his girlfriend who had been living with him for three years:
Well, there are a couple options.
- If they refer to themselves as husband and wife publicly, then they could be considered married under the common law rules in Texas. That works like any other marriage for insurance purposes, but if they go this route then they will actually be married in Texas. They can’t decide to be married for insurance purposes but not married for others.
- If they do not refer to themselves as married, then he might be able to cover her as a domestic partner since the group elected to cover domestic partners when they originally signed up:
They do have to meet certain criteria for this and there is a form to complete: https://www.bcbstx.com/pdf/forms/grp-affidavit-domestic-tx.pdf