How the disability benefits marriage penalty works
Estimated reading time: 3m 4s
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For the month of October, the Reckon Report is focusing on caregiving across the human lifespan, in a series we're calling Cradle to Grave. One of the most common uses of the phrase in English-speaking countries is in reference to the United Kingdomâs public healthcare system, the NHS. From prenatal care to elder care and everything in between, weâll be looking at Americaâs caregiving institutions and how they measure up (or donât) with those of other nations. If youâre a married person who paid federal taxes before 2017, you might be familiar with the marriage penalty: that married couples without a wide gap between the spousesâ incomes were subject to higher taxes. (Thatâs a massive simplification, but this isnât a newsletter about the tax code.) But did you know that thereâs another marriage penalty that for some people could cost almost $11,000 per year? This lesser-known marriage penalty has an outsized impact on disabled people and their partners or spouses, leaving many to make the heart-wrenching choice between getting married or receiving income they rely on. The maximum benefit people receiving Supplemental Security Income â or SSI for short â are entitled to in 2023 is $10,968. Next yearâs inflation adjustment will boost payments up to an annual maximum of $11,316. SSI is a means-tested program under the Social Security Administration that provides money to disabled children and adults. Its income limitations are very strict; beneficiaries are not allowed to have more than $2000 in assets aside from their home, car and personal effects. Even life insurance policies canât be valued at greater than $1,500. Getting cut off from SSI can have disastrous effects, too, like losing Medicaid benefits. Medicaid covers the cost of home health aides for disabled people, so being deprived of that health coverage isnât just a matter of losing access to your preferred physician or paying a few dollars more for prescriptions at the pharmacy counter. The result of such strict policies is that many disabled people receiving SSI are effectively barred from any material improvements in their lives. All for $914 a month, which is less than the federal minimum wage and well below the federal poverty line. Being locked out of married life also opens people up to a host of other issues, like navigating hospital visitation, healthcare decisions and funeral arrangements. |
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(Image credit: Jenny Kane/Associated Press) |
SSI was created during the Nixon Administration to replace and streamline earlier federal programs. The Social Security Administration was looking to eliminate the differences between statesâ qualifying processes for disability programs. Initially, benefits were roughly equal to what a retired worker would receive in Social Security funds, but SSI has lagged in the decades since. The asset cap hasnât changed since 1989, essentially trapping SSI recipients in poverty. |
(Image credit: Jon Elswick,/Associated Press) |
Marriage equality isnât a bygone struggle of the 2000s and 2010s that culminated in nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage. The existence of the marriage penalty for SSI recipients means that there are still people who cannot avail themselves of what should be a right to all adults. Last year, Rep. Jimmy Panetta, a Democratic congressman from California, introduced the Marriage Equality for Disabled Adults Act in the House of Representatives to address these restrictions, but it died in committee. So far, there havenât been any attempts to revive the bill for the current Congress. |
Thirty-three years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, many disabled people in the US are still in a position where theyâre barred from full participation in society. Eliminating the marriage penalty and asset caps for SSI recipients wouldnât fully undo the systemic and institutional ableism they face, but it would go a long way toward living up to the goals of the disability rights movement of the last few decades. Wanna see movement on marriage equality for disabled adults? Call your representative's or senator's office and push for it! |
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Got something you want us to dive into soon? Let me know at avelasquez@reckonmedia.com.
That's all I've got for this week!
Thanks for reckoning with me, Aria |
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