Marriage Penalty for People with Disabilities By Kelsey Cowley

I want to talk about the marriage penalty for people with disabilities. Not a lot of people know about this because congress does not advertise it or make you aware of this. When I am talking about marriage penalty, it is about allowing people with disabilities to get married to someone with a disability on Medicare/Medicaid and SSI. The reason why that is so important to me is because I had to open my eyes when i tried to get married legally to my ex-husband who did not have a disability. People with disabilities need to be able to choose who they get to marry. It is not up to congress or the state. People with disabilities have equal rights just like “normal people”. What people with disabilities want is to have a normal life. That means to have a family, to have kids, and to be able to get married. There has always been a stipulation that they cannot have these things. That is why everybody needs to understand what it is like to have a disability and support us.

 

Editor’s note: When getting married people with disabilities often lose Medicare/Medicaid benefits necessary for activities of daily living. When marrying an able-bodied spouse, the state (Indiana) assumes that the spouse will become a caregiver and lowers the amount of care the spouse with a disability receives. A piece of paper and rings do not change one’s needs. This can cause undue stress on the marriage. Yes, married partners do care for one another but not in that way, every day.

The money a spouse with a disability receives can also be reduced or stopped altogether. This depends on many factors. If both spouses receive SSI, they may reduce each of their income to meet the maximum payment allowed. If only one spouse is on SSI, the income of the one not receiving benefits is counted towards determining the SSI payment, often times reducing or eliminating it. SSDI depends on whose account the benefits are being drawn from. If a person with a disability is drawing on their own earnings, nothing will change. However, if the receiver is drawing off of a parent and their spouse does not receive benefits, the SSDI payment may be lost. This information is taken from https://www.specialneedsalliance.org/the-voice/what-happens-when-persons-living-with-disabilities-marry-2/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Hi, my name is Kelsey Cowley and I have been a long time advocate for people with disabilities. I am a person with a disability also but what people don’t know about us is that we are humans too. That is what people who have never interacted with people with disabilities needs to know.