The Walt Disney Company will begin offering health coverage to the live-in partners of gay and lesbian employees on Jan. 1, a move that at least one insurance executive said could prompt other companies to do the same.

"We made this decision because it brings our health benefits in line with our corporate nondiscrimination policy," said John Dreyer, a spokesman for Disney, on Friday.

The new Disney policy is similar to those adopted in the past three years at other entertainment giants like Universal, Paramount Pictures, Sony and Warner Brothers.

But most companies have been reluctant to extend health benefits to gay partners. A health insurance executive said Disney's decision might change that.