Same-Sex Marriage, Employer Group Health Plans

Religious Institutions Update: October 2016

Holland & Knight LLP on 10/27/2016

Timely Topics - The final rule implementing Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on May...more

Mon General Hospital to Settle Discrimination Charge Filed By Female Employee Denied Benefits For Same-Sex Spouse

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... on 10/26/2016

Employee Benefits No Longer Exclude Coverage for Same-Sex Spouses - MORGANTOWN, W.V. -- Mon General Hospital has agreed to conciliate a charge of sex discrimination filed by its employee, Kathy McIntire, alleging that...more

Recognition of Same-Sex Marriage Officially the Tax Law of the Land

Ruder Ware on 9/2/2016

Effective tomorrow, September 2, 2016, new IRS final regulations will take effect which provide that for federal tax purposes, the terms “spouse,” “husband,” and “wife” mean an individual lawfully married to another...more

2015 End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” List Health & Welfare

Snell & Wilmer on 11/23/2015

As 2015 comes to an end, we are pleased to present you with our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. Like last year, we are presenting our “To Do” Lists in three separate Employee Benefits Updates. Part 1 of...more

Same-Sex Marriage is Legal – Are Your Employee Benefit Plans Up to Date?

Locke Lord LLP on 10/13/2015

What is the Supreme Court’s holding in Obergefell v. Hodges? LB: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that all states must license a marriage between two people of the same sex and all states must recognize a lawful same-sex...more

Employee Health Care Plans: Tips for Navigating the Affordable Care Act Requirements

Baker Donelson on 8/7/2015

The United States Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act (the "Act") in a recent decision involving the use of the insurance exchanges. Employers are now certain that they must deal with the requirements of the Act...more

Obergefell v. Hodges – Same-Sex Marriage Now Legal in all 50 States

Snell & Wilmer on 7/22/2015

Same-sex Marriage Now Legal in All 50 States - In 2013, the Supreme Court, in United States v. Windsor, struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) which defined marriage, for Federal purposes, as...more

Health and Welfare Benefits for Same-Sex Spouses after Obergefell: A New Mandate for Employers?

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 7/21/2015

After last month’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges, employee benefit plan sponsors may wonder whether Obergefell affirmatively imposes an obligation for employers to provide health, life,...more

Employee Benefits Implications of Supreme Court Decision on Same-Sex Marriage

McDermott Will & Emery on 7/1/2015

On June 26, 2015, in Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court of the United States determined that it is unconstitutional for a state to ban same-sex couples from exercising the fundamental right to marry. As a result of this...more

The Same-Sex Marriage Ruling: Key Employee Benefits Take-Aways

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 6/30/2015

Last Friday, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its highly-anticipated decision in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, ruling that all 50 states must license marriages between two people of the same sex and must...more

What the Supreme Court’s Same-Sex Marriage Ruling Means for Employers

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 6/30/2015

On Friday, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its long-awaited opinion in the Obergefell case, striking down bans on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional and legalizing same-sex marriage in every state. We posted...more

Same-Sex Spouse Has No Standing to Assert COBRA Notice Claim

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive... on 2/25/2015

A New Jersey federal district court held (in an unpublished opinion) that a former plan participant’s same-sex spouse who never enrolled in the benefit plan did not have standing to assert a claim alleging that his spouse’s...more

In Florida, Recognition of Same-Sex Marriage Will Impact Employers

Carlton Fields on 1/16/2015

On January 6, Florida became the 36th state to recognize same-sex marriage. This development came as the result of several recent state and federal court decisions finding Florida's ban on same-sex marriage an...more

Same-Sex Marriage Rulings May Pose Some Challenges for Employers

NAVEX on 12/10/2014

Over the past two years, there has been a sea change in the treatment of same-sex spouses under both federal and state law. Now that federal law, and the laws in 35 states and Washington, D.C., recognize marriage equality for...more

Should Employers Drop Domestic Partner Dependent Coverage?

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP on 12/8/2014

Over the past decade, many employers extended dependent coverage under their group medical insurance plans to employees’ domestic partners. For many employers, this change was made in order to allow gay employees to add their...more

Group health plans for same-sex spouses: Equal treatment required or not?

McAfee & Taft on 11/5/2014

In our recent webinar, McAfee & Taft attorneys shared with you a number of ramifications from the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that effectively legalized same-sex marriage in Oklahoma. One of the key questions we...more

What's New Under the Defense of Marriage Act?

Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP on 6/16/2014

A major reason that employee benefits, such as employer- provided healthcare and retirement plans, exist is that they provide a tax-advantaged way for an employer to provide additional compensation to an employee, her spouse,...more

Same-Gender Marriage Implications for Employee Benefit Plans

Poyner Spruill LLP on 1/14/2014

In the summer of 2013, the Supreme Court issued a decision in U.S. v. Windsor, striking down a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and eliminating the requirement that federal law recognize only marriages...more

Year-End Health and Retirement Plan Guidance Grab Bag

Winstead PC on 12/26/2013

Following Hawaii’s enactment of legislation recognizing same-sex marriage as of and after December 2, 2013 a number of additional pieces of guidance were also issued. Internal Revenue Service’s Frequently Asked Questions...more

Perspectives - November 2013

Benesch on 12/15/2013

In Revenue Ruling 2013–17, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that the terms “husband and wife,” “husband” and “wife” in the Internal Revenue Code are to be interpreted to include an individual married to a person...more

Windsor & DOMA: Issues for Cross-Border Employers

Fisher Phillips on 10/2/2013

On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in U.S. v. Windsor that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), which defined “marriage” as strictly between opposite-sex couples and “spouse” as referring only to a...more

Agencies Issue Guidance on Same-Sex Marriage Impacting Employee Benefits

Snell & Wilmer on 9/9/2013

On June 26, 2013, the United States Supreme Court, in United States v. Windsor, held that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the equal liberty of persons that is...more

Special Alert for Employers and Other Benefit Plan Sponsors: How Will the Supreme Court's DOMA Decision Impact Your Employee...

Proskauer Rose LLP on 7/9/2013

On June 26, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that will affect virtually all employers across the country. In United States v. Windsor, the Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that Section 3 of the federal Defense of...more

Supreme Court Finds DOMA to Be Unconstitutional -- Impact on Employers Explained

Foley Hoag LLP on 7/5/2013

On June 26, 2013, a majority of the Supreme Court held in United States v. Windsor that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined marriage for purposes of federal law as the union of a man and a woman, is...more

Same-Sex Marriage › Employer Group Health Plans