The SSI Marriage Penalty: How Disabled Couples Are Forced to Choose Between Benefits and Wedlock
By
Ford Foundation
Summary
Patrice Jetter and Garry Wickham, a disabled couple in love, face a devastating choice: marry and lose the SSI and Medicaid benefits they rely on to survive, or stay unmarried to keep their healthcare and income. The article explores the "SSI marriage penalty" — a policy that punishes disabled people for marrying by counting a spouse's income and assets against eligibility. It highlights the couple's fight for disability marriage equality, their story being told in the documentary "Patrice: The Movie," and broader calls for asset limit reform in the disability community.
Source
bskyThe SSI Marriage Penalty: How Disabled Couples Are Forced to Choose Between Benefits and Wedlockfordfoundation.orgKey quotes
· 3 pulledPeople with disabilities need their benefits for survival, and there's no reason that a marriage should put that at risk.
We want to be together, but the system forces us to choose between love and survival.
It's not about being against marriage — it's about a policy that hasn't been updated in decades and punishes disabled people for wanting the same things everyone else does.
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