COBRA bill would extend benefits to domestic partners

Meet the Equal Access to COBRA Act.
Introduced by U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), the proposed bill would grant domestic partners the same access married spouses have to COBRA health coverage if their partner loses his or her job.
However, the bill would only apply to companies that already extend health benefits to domestic partners and their children.
So if your company covers domestic partners under its health plan, it would also have to allow domestic partners to have access to COBRA benefits. And the law would only apply to domestic partners as currently defined by your company’s health plan.
If your company doesn’t extend health benefits to domestic partners, the proposed bill would not affect it.
Currently, federal COBRA laws do not apply to domestic partners or same-sex spouses — even at companies that extend health benefits to them.