LANSING Mich.

The Michigan Supreme Court on Tuesday will begin weighing whether state universities and other public-sector employers can provide health insurance to the partners of gay workers.

But even if gays lose the case, they ultimately could still get benefits, even though a 2004 state constitutional ban against gay marriage threatened those benefits.

Universities and local governments have rewritten their domestic partnership policies in light of the measure.

The new policies no longer specifically acknowledge domestic partnerships but make sure "other qualified adults" including gay partners are eligible for medical and dental care. The adults have to live together for a certain amount of time, be unmarried, share finances and be unrelated.

"It's a temporary, stopgap method. It's certainly not a panacea," said Jay Kaplan, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. While no same-sex partners of employees have lost their health insurance while the legal battle continues, many now are getting health insurance only on a pilot basis, he said.

The University of Michigan, Michigan State University and the city of Kalamazoo changed their rules after the state Court of Appeals in February said the gay marriage ban also bars benefits for the same-sex partners of public employees.

The court signaled, however, that benefits for unmarried partners would be OK if they aren't based on recognizing their "agreed-upon relationship."

Kaplan said the distinction made by the appeals court was disingenuous.

"You can exist as long as we don't acknowledge you exist," he said.

Depending how the high court rules, benefits for gay couples may continue because conservatives who drafted the marriage amendment don't appear to have big problems with the new benefit policies at least legally.

"They may be constitutional. I don't anticipate further lawsuits on that particular question," said Gary Glenn, president of the Midland-based American Family Association of Michigan.