Just this past week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) took another step toward making healthcare available and equitable for married same-sex couples.

HHS has announced that, based on regulations prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, insurers offering non-grandfathered group or individual coverage (including through the Marketplaces) must extend coverage to same-sex spouses on the same basis as they do to opposite-sex spouses. This requirement applies regardless of where the couples live or where the plan is issued, so long as the couple is married.

This announcement follows several recent incidences in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, where insurance companies refused to enroll same-sex spouses in the family coverage they selected through the healthcare.gov marketplace. Now, this step taken by HHS will ensure that insurance companies will not be permitted to discriminate against married same-sex couples when offering coverage.

The guidance from HHS strongly encourages insurers to comply with its requirements before the end of the open enrollment period on March 31, although companies have until the beginning of the next plan year—January 1, 2015—to fully bring their policies in line with federal requirements. It does not speak to whether family coverage must also be available to domestic partners or people in civil unions.

This announcement is yet another step towards equal access to healthcare for all LGBT individuals, and it ensures married same-sex spouses are not denied the family coverage offered to opposite-sex spouses.

You can read the full announcement from HHS here.