Nearly two years after an effort to extend health benefits to unmarried partners failed on a party-line vote, Salt Lake County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson is resurrecting the idea.

But this time, instead of focusing solely on health benefits for domestic partners, Wilson wants to broaden the program to "adult designees" such as siblings, long-term roommates and parents of county employees. The Salt Lake County Council is scheduled to discuss the plan Tuesday.

"This seems like a win-win," Wilson said. "I really believe that anything local governments can do to provide health insurance through government pools and by getting other family members and other people involved is a good thing."

Council Chairman Mark Crockett, a Republican, cast the deciding vote against a July 2005 plan that would have given domestic partners and their children the same benefits granted families of married employees, including health, dental and life insurance, extended funeral leave and sick leave to care for a dependent.

This time around, Crockett said he is more comfortable with the plan because it isn't singling out one group.

"I've always been in favor of fair health benefits, the only problem I had last time was with defining a new legally protected class of people, whoever that would have been. It happened to be domestic partners last time," Crockett said. "If instead of having it be about classes of people and instead we could just have it be about fair health care, I have always been interested."

Wilson tailored her plan to be like Salt Lake City's. Last year the city started offering health insurance benefits to "adult designees" of city workers who live in the same household but are not married to the employee.

The city's program defines an adult designee as anyone over age 18 who has lived in the city worker's household for a year and is either financially dependent upon the city worker or has financial interdependence with that person. An "adult designee" could be a sister or brother, a parent, a romantic partner or friend. The ordinance also applies to the designee's children.

Wilson said she wants to change the county's health-care plan to reflect the changing face of county employees: According to recent Census data, 45 percent of all Salt Lake County adults no longer fit the typical family model. She said if the county keeps health benefits as is and limits it to those who fit the mold, "the county may be excluding nearly half of its employees."

"We have people who are co-dependent in our community and in our county who are in these co-dependent financial situations because they are gay and lesbians," Wilson said. "Those people are absolutely entitled to the benefit, especially because we don't allow them to marry."

She said it will likely cost the county approximately $290,000 to extend health benefits to adult designees of county employees.

The council will likely take no action on the proposal and just refer it to a committee for further review, Crockett said.

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E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com