On December 12, 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a proposed rule that would broaden rights for same-sex spouses at US hospitals. The proposed rule is aimed at “ensur[ing] that same-sex spouses in legally-valid marriages are recognized and afforded equal rights in Medicare and Medicaid participating facilities.”

In its 2013 decision

Continuing the national trend toward marriage equality, the Obama Administration announced that it will allow same-sex married couples to qualify for Medicare benefits just like opposite-sex married couples. Following last June’s landmark Supreme Court decision in U.S. v. Windsor, which held that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is an unconstitutional

In the wake of United States v. Windsor, the case in which the Supreme Court held the Defense of Marriage’s (DOMA) prohibition on federal recognition of same-sex marriages unconstitutional, the Internal Revenue Service issued Internal Revenue Ruling 2013-17. The Ruling held that same-sex individuals who were married under state law would be considered