Mayo: Same-Sex Partners Must Marry To Keep Benefit

ROCHESTER, (AP) - The Mayo Clinic says its Minnesota employees who are in same-sex domestic partnerships will have to get married if they want their partners to continue to remain eligible for health insurance.

Same-sex marriages will be legal in Minnesota starting Thursday. Mayo Clinic spokesman Bryan Anderson say the deadline for couples to get married to continue receiving health benefits hasn't been determined.

Anderson says Mayo has provided same-sex domestic partner benefits for years because those couples were not allowed to be married. But the policy says couples would have to wed if same-sex marriage becomes legal in the state where they live.

Human Rights Watch says Mayo's policy would be a first among large companies. Mayo does not provide benefits for opposite-sex couples who live together.