DOMA's impact on same-sex couples' access to federal health programs, health insurance

Politico: It's Not Just A Marriage Issue; It's The Insurance
The federal Defense of Marriage Act, under review by the high court this week, allows states to ignore gay marriages or unions sanctioned outside their borders, and it excludes legally married gay couples from the same protections offered to heterosexual couples under federal health programs, like Medicare, Medicaid and the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. The result is thousands of same-sex couples facing more limited access to health insurance and steeper costs for coverage than their heterosexual counterparts (Cheney, 3/27).