An employer's cafeteria plan and underlying benefit plans excludes same sex spouses. In June 2014, the employer amends the plan to make same sex spouses eligible for benefits. Can the employer permit employees (who married their same sex spouses in 2013 or earlier) change their elections mid-year to add their same sex spouses to the plan? If so, under what provision of the proposed cafeteria plan regulations?
It seems intuitive that these election changes should be permitted but I am not finding anything in the regulations to support this intuition. Does anyone have any thoughts?