Starting July 1, same-sex couples who utilize the state of Alaska's employee union health care plan will no longer have access to those benefits unless they are married.

The board of trustees for the Alaska State Employees Association in April sent letters to same-sex couples utilizing the state's health benefits plan notifying them that they would no longer be eligible for benefits unless they married. The change in status comes after U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Burgess ruled in October that Alaska's law banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, allowing marriages to proceed in the state.

Mike Williams, chair of the board of trustees for the ASEA-AFSCME Local 52 Health Benefits Trust, said the board's decision to allow enrollment to only married same-sex couples comes in an effort to "treat all couples the same now."

Williams said the health plan, which covers 8,000 state employees and more than 17,000 total enrollees, is only available for married couples. He said domestic partnerships -- either with same or opposite-sex partners -- are not eligible since the state of Alaska does not legally recognize those relationships.

Alaska Commons first reported news of the letter.

The state began offering benefits to same-sex couples in 2005 after the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that not extending state benefits to couples solely because they could not marry was a violation of their equal protection rights.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska first brought the lawsuit forward. On Wednesday, ACLU of Alaska executive director Joshua Decker supported the union's decision, noting the whole point of the ACLU lawsuit was to give equal protection to same-sex couples.

"Equality is what we've always been fighting for," Decker said. "It's perfectly legal for Alaska to say to all loving and committed couples, whether opposite or same sex, if you want to get the full suite of employee benefits you have to be married."

Williams said that with fewer than 20 couples affected by the change, the board of trustees decided to move forward despite a pending ruling at the U.S. Supreme Court that could overturn Alaska's same-sex marriage ruling. Open enrollment in the state employees' health plan ends Friday.

Covered employees under the state's health care system -- Alaska Care -- will see no change at this time, according to Department of Administration Deputy Commissioner Leslie Ridle. In an email, Ridle said the state is waiting until the U.S. Supreme Court issues a final ruling before considering changes.

Williams said that if the Supreme Court does overturn Burgess' ruling, couples would have 60 days to return to the plan if they choose.