Same-sex couples will now be eligible for federal marriage benefits, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced Thursday.

“I am proud to announce that the critical programs for veterans and elderly and disabled Americans, which previously could not give effect to the marriages of couples living in states that did not recognize those marriages, will now provide federal recognition for all marriages nationwide,” Lynch said in a statement.

The Supreme Court decided in a 5-4 ruling last month that there is a constitutional right to same-sex marriage and that all states must grant gay and lesbian couples marriage licenses. Before the ruling, 13 states did not recognize same-sex marriage.

Many federal marriage benefits were available to same-sex couples after a 2013 Supreme Court ruling that struck down the federal ban on gay marriage. Some benefits, though, including Social Security and veterans benefits for spouses, were still unavailable to these couples if they lived in states that did not recognize their marriages.

“With the Supreme Court’s new ruling that the Constitution requires marriage equality, we have now taken the further step of ensuring that all federal benefits will be available equally to married couples in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Territories,” Lynch said.

The Social Security Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs said they were still working to implement the ruling, with the Social Security Administration issuing a statement that same-sex couples should apply for benefits right away, if they believe they qualify. The VA said that it will be issuing new guidance shortly, but in the meantime it will temporarily wait to rule on claims that were not covered previous to the Supreme Court ruling.

Vickie Henry, a senior staff attorney for Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, a legal advocacy group, told AP that there are still questions to be resolved regarding the implementation of the ruling. Issues of couples needing to re-apply if they had already been denied benefits have been raised.

"With this terrific statement from the attorney general, the devil is in the details," Henry said. "Marriage benefits are available to same-sex couples nationwide, and that's as it should be. I think that is what the Supreme Court ruling requires. But what does that mean?"