Many couples with disabilities who require long-term disability services and supports are often forced to choose between marriage and maintaining benefits. Most people with long-term disabilities depend on Medicaid for needed services and, therefore, decide not to get married out of fear of losing their benefits and necessary healthcare or are forced to try to “work around the law,” inherently criminalizing the only ways they can pursue marriage and healthcare. 

To address this inequity, the bi-partisan Eliminating the Marriage Penalty in SSI Act has been reintoduced to remove the marriage penalty for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and ensure that married adults are not penalized by the federal government. 

Individuals with disabilities should not be forced into having to choose between marriage and financial ruin.