County Proposes Pay-For-It-Yourself Health Care Coverage Plan

Salt Lake County Republican councilmen have proposed to extend health insurance benefits to the domestic partners of county employees, but at a cost. The Republican proposal came as a direct response to a Democratic councilwoman’s repeated requests to extend the county’s health insurance coverage to domestic partners of county employees.

Democratic Councilwoman Jenny Wilson first suggested that health insurance be extended only to domestic partners of county employees in 2005, but has since amended her request to include an "adult designee," meaning anyone who shares finances and a home with a county employee.

In what county Republicans described as a compromise, the Republican led County Council suggested a policy that extended similar benefits currently available to county employees to their adult designees, but without any subsidy from taxpayer funds. Despite the fact that the Republican plan costs at least $228 more per month per adult designee than Wilson’s plan, the measure has been approved for further exploration by the city council.