Money Fix: The Marriage Equality Act and benefits

The work of passing New York's Marriage Equality Act that allows same-gender marriage is over. Now those who oversee employee benefit plans are working to incorporate the new law into their offerings during open enrollment. And for a majority of employers the enrollment period comes in the last three months of the year. But there are plenty of nuances to be worked out, says Ralph Sepe, a partner with Chernoff Diamond & Co. Llc., a benefits advisory firm in Garden City.

Some things for employees to know:

Paying more. Federal law allows employees to pay for health benefits on a pretax basis. But since the federal government does not recognize same-gender marriage, employees lose that pretax feature on the portion of the payroll deduction that pays for a same-sex spouse to be added to the plan. Also, says Sepe, the value of employee-paid heath insurance is not considered taxable income for employees. But, again, Uncle Sam will view the value of coverage for a same-sex spouse as taxable.

Some maybes. Smaller employers usually have fully insured medical plans and must comply with the state's new marriage law. Larger businesses that self-fund plans are not required to comply with the Marriage Equality Act. Still, many such organizations do opt to go along with state laws, Sepe says.

Learn more. Employers and those who manage benefits plans can discuss the nuances Sept. 20 during a real-time interactive webinar, The Impact of Same-Gender Relationships on Your Company-Sponsored Benefit Plans, sponsored by Chernoff Diamond. Go to ChernoffDiamond.com/rsvp for more.