29 Salt Lake workers sign for benefits

About two dozen Salt Lake City employees have signed up for insurance for their adult household members under a City Council plan that extends benefits to people beyond traditional families.

Of the 29 employees who signed up for insurance, four will use it for a parent, one for an adult child and 25 for domestic partners. Six employees will use it for a same-sex partner, and the other 19 are male-female partnerships, said Jodi Langford, who manages insurance benefits for the city's human-resource division.

The new insurance plans will kick in July 9 for those who signed up during the city's monthlong open-enrollment period that ended May 31. For those who signed up during a special enrollment period from mid-March to mid-April, their insurance will be retroactive to May, Langford said.

The employees have access to medical, dental, life, auto, long-term care and group home insurance. They also can tap the city's group legal-plan insurance on behalf of their designees, with its access to will writing and a legal-advice hotline, Langford said. Employees also can take leave from their jobs to care for sick adult designees or to arrange funerals.

The employees had to show they shared financial obligations and had lived together for at least one year. Most employees provided proof of joint bank accounts, mutual beneficiaries in life insurance policies and mutual powers of attorney, Langford said.

Council member Jill Remington Love, who first looked into additional insurance coverage last fall, said she's happy to hear that more city employees now have insurance.

"I hope that because it's not costing every employee more money, they appreciate that families come in all different kinds of packages and support systems," Love said. "This is the most fair and equitable approach."

During discussions about the plan, a council staff analyst estimated that as many as 96 people might sign up for the plan. With only 29 employees signing up for the new program, the council doesn't have to jump-start the premiums with extra money. The council plans to cover the cost of the additional insurance plans by restructuring.

The relatively quiet open enrollment period followed a tussle between the City Council and Mayor Rocky Anderson. Anderson pushed his version of insurance benefits, which would have covered only domestic partners, through an executive order last September. Several Salt Lake residents sued, claiming that the mayor's plan violated state law.