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Hennepin County will begin offering domestic-partner health insurance coverage to its employees next January if related coverage for Minneapolis city employees survives a court test.
The County Board voted 4 to 3 Tuesday to extend health coverage to same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partners of about 3,900 employees covered by four labor contracts. It then extended the same coverage to about 4,500 nonunion employees, and the rest of the county's work force of more than 10,000 employees could get similar coverage when more labor contracts are settled.
County officials estimated that the coverage will cost the county no more than $85,000 annually in increased premiums, assuming that up to 50 employees would seek coverage. That...