Association for Health Care Journalists: Older same-sex couples gain financial protection in SCOTUS decision (7/10/2015) In an article about the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage and the ruling’s impact on Medicaid benefits, Justice in Aging’s Eric Carlson says, “The goal is to protect the spouse at home from impoverishment. You are considered as a couple rather than an individual; that is the idea behind the rules.”