Complex Benefits Questions Raised By DOMA Decision

The complexities of same-sex marriage benefits are made clear in this post, and there are many of them. Several federal laws are affected, including  the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA, COBRA and HIPAA, and because of diverse state laws the number of  possible permutations that are now real-world possibilities is large. How, for example, will the various laws treat same-sex spouses who are married in one state and move to a state that does not recognize same-sex marriage? A major issue overall is which benefits are retroactive.