Publix offers insurance benefits to married same-sex couples

MIAMI (AP) The Publix grocery store chain now offers employee insurance benefits to same-sex couples legally married in other states. <br /> <br /> The Lakeland-based company told employees this week that beginning Thursday, Publix would expand coverage for its health, dental and vision benefit plans to associates married in any state where same-sex marriages are legal. <br /> <br /> Publix owns nearly 2,000 grocery stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina. <br /> <br /> The Miami Herald reports that Publix will hold a 30-day enrollment period for same-sex married employees. Their documentation must include marriage certificates and declarations about whether they or their spouses use tobacco products. <br /> <br /> The executive director of the gay rights group Equality Florida praised the expansion of benefits by Publix amid many calls from businesses to end Florida's ban on same-sex marriage. <br />