HELENA -- The state's largest health insurer plans to offer coverage to "domestic partners'' of employees of small businesses, extending what's already available through its large-business policies.

The "domestic partner'' coverage will be available to same-sex or opposite-sex partners of the covered employee as of July 1 -- if the business buying the policy from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana chooses that option.

"It's something we had been looking at for some time,'' said Tanya Ask, vice president of government affairs for Blue Cross. "We wanted to make sure it could be offered as an option for employees.''

Rep. Christine Kaufmann, D-Helena and co-director of the Montana Human Rights Network, said the change helps reduce discrimination against same-sex couples in the workplace.

"I think (Blue Cross) knows that small businesses and groups are looking for this type of policy to provide to their employees, to be competitive in the workforce,'' Kaufmann said. "For those of us who care that we live in a society that is attempting to rid itself of discrimination, this is a victory.''

The Human Rights Network, among other things, has advocated for civil rights and other legal protections for homosexuals.

Blue Cross, which writes or administers health insurance for 232,000 people in Montana, already, has large-group policies that cover domestic partners of the insured employee, regardless of sex.

Whether that type of coverage is offered to employees is left to the business buying the policy, Ask said.

On July 1, that offer will be part of small-group policies, which are for businesses that employ two-to-50 people. Those policies currently cover about 19,000 people in Montana.

Ask said the company doesn't have figures on how many "domestic partners'' are covered under the large-group policies in effect now. She also said the company has no way of knowing how many people might be eligible for the domestic partner coverage when it's extended to small businesses.

"We'll have a better idea a year from now,'' she said.

Kaufmann conceded that the change will affect "a minority of clients,'' but said it's still a significant move by Blue Cross, the state's largest health insurer.

"This is good news and we're glad that Blue Cross Blue Shield is being more responsive to the needs of small groups and small businesses,'' she said.