HHS rules Obamacare plans must offer equal access to gay spouses
WASHINGTON -- Same-sex spouses must be provided equal access to family healthcare plans offered by insurers in the Affordable Care Act marketplace exchanges, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Friday.
Beginning next year, “insurance companies will not be permitted to discriminate against married same-sex couples when offering coverage,” Matthew Heinz, the agency’s director of provider and LGBT outreach, said in a blog post.
According to the guidelines, insurance companies that provide family plans to heterosexual couples will not be allowed to deny similar plans to same-sex married couples.
Many large employers who fund their own health plans already follow similar rules issued by the Labor Department.
In February, a Cleveland gay couple, married in New York state, sued Ohio and the U.S. government, saying they were prevented from purchasing a family plan through the Obamacare marketplace.
HHS is giving insurance companies until Jan. 1 to implement the rules.
Friday’s decision seeks to clarify an anti-discriminatory requirement of the Affordable Care Act called the availability provision, which applies to both group and individual insurance plans.
Insurance plans that were in place before the healthcare law passed in March 2010 and have not changed substantially will not have to comply.
