CMS issues ruling implementing DOMA decision in Medicare

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today issued a ruling stating the agency’s policy for applying United States v. Windsor, a 2013 Supreme Court decision that struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, to certain Medicare provisions. According to the notice, marital status is relevant to certain Medicare entitlements, premiums, benefits and enrollment provisions. “In the absence of controlling law to the contrary, the Department of Health and Human Services has adopted a policy of treating same-sex marriages on the same terms as opposite-sex marriages to the greatest extent reasonably possible,” the ruling states. The policy is applicable beginning Feb. 9, 2015, with respect to appeals pending on, initiated or reopened in accordance with applicable rules after Feb. 9, 2015, for entitlement and enrollment determinations made on or after June 26, 2013. The ruling does not apply to appeals of entitlement and enrollment determinations made before June 26, 2013.