Barack Obama opens up Medicare to same-sex couples
By Sam Rigby
Barack Obama’s administration has announced that it is opening up the Medicare scheme to same-sex couples for the first time.
Gay and lesbian couples will now be able to access hospital and physician benefits, after a 2013 US Supreme Court ruling ended the federal ban on same-sex marriage.
The Social Security Administration can now look at the eligibility of married gay Medicare applicants, Reuters reports.
US Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, said: “We are working together with SSA to process these requests in a timely manner to ensure all beneficiaries, regardless of sexual orientation, are treated fairly under the law.”
Meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden recently discussed gay rights in a speech at the Human Rights Convention in Los Angeles last month.
He described love as the “single most basic of all human rights”.