Background information: The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) enacted September 21, 1996, is a U.S. federal law that allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages granted under the laws of other states.
Until Section 3 of the Act was ruled unconstitutional, DOMA had effectively barred same-sex married couples from being recognized as "spouses" for purposes of federal laws, or receiving federal marriage benefits. As of July 3, there is no longer any federal barriers to the recognition of same-sex couples married in states that recognize same-sex marriage. They are now entitled to receive the over 1,000 federal health, tax, Social Security and other benefits that a one man/one woman couple receives.
Example: Jane Smith is a benefits-eligible employee at North Shore-LIJ. Jane married her partner, Mary, in the state of New York in March of 2013. As a recognized marriage in New York, North Shore-LIJ was able to add Mary to Jane's policy as a Qualified Life Event.
Question: On July 3 the Supreme Court struck down DOMA, how does this affect Jane and Mary in the future, in regards to their benefits?
Answer: When the couple married in March, the state of New York recognized their marriage, but the federal government did not. As a result, Jane's pay statement showed an imputed income from the federal government. Since New York is one of the 13 states that recognizes same-sex marriage the couple did not have imputed income from New York. Now that Section 3 of DOMA has been struck down, Jane will no longer receive imputed income from the federal government and her medical contributions will be pre-tax for both federal and state purposes.
Note: North Shore-LIJ's payroll department is currently working to update the payroll system to reflect pre-tax contributions for all same-sex married participants. Impacted plan participants will be contacted directly with additional information.
If you are in a same-sex marriage and have additional questions about your benefits, call the HR Service Center at 516-734-7000.
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