SB 757 expands the reach of the California Insurance Equality Act, which currently requires insurance companies to provide the same coverage for registered domestic partners as for spouses.
Although the existing law, which went into effect in January 2005, prohibits insurance providers from issuing policies or plans that treat registered domestic partners and spouses differently, California insurance law does not apply to policies issued outside of California to employers whose principal place of business and majority of employees are located outside of California. This exception has permitted qualified out-of-state employers and out-of-state insurers to avoid the non-discrimination provisions of the California Insurance Equality Act.
SB 757 amends the Health and Safety and Insurance codes to clarify that, notwithstanding the general exception for policies issued outside of California to employers whose principal place of business and majority of employees are located outside of California, no policy or certificate of health insurance marketed, issued, or delivered to a California resident shall discriminate in coverage between spouses or domestic partners of a different sex and spouses or domestic partners of the same sex.
