Medicare Guidance To Medicare Advantage Plans On Impact of United States v. Windsor on Skilled Nursing Facility Benefits

August 29, 2013
On August 29, 2013, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) informed Medicare Advantage plan contractors that all beneficiaries in private Medicare plans have access to equal coverage when it comes to care in a nursing home where their spouse lives. The statement was in a Medicare guidance memo in response to the recent Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Windsor which challenged the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The court ruled that DOMA was unconstitutional. The federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is working to implement the Supreme Court’s decision . . .