Marriage Equality Annotated Bibliography

• Richard Balkus & Susan Wilschke, Treatment of Married Couples in the SSI Program, The United States Social Security Administration, Issue Paper No. 2003-01 (Dec. 2003)
  • A report by the SSA on marriage penalties for those on SSI (includes “holding out”) and potential solutions
• Rabia Belt, Disability: The Last Marriage Equality Frontier (August 29, 2015). Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 2653117, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2653117 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2653117
  • A working paper exploring Social Security marriage penalties in the context of the broader issue of marriage equality.
• David Weaver, Marriage and Social Security: The Case of Disabled Adult Child Beneficiaries (December 20, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3507766  or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3507766
  • Discusses the characteristics of the overall DAC population and the DAC population that marries
• Dmitry Tumin, Marriage trends among Americans with childhood-onset disabilities, 1997-2013, Disabil Health J. 2016 Oct;9(4):713-8. doi: 10.1016/j.dhjo.2016.05.004. Epub 2016 May 18. PMID: 27265773.,
  • Comparative study showing that Americans with childhood-onset disabilities are less likely to marry.
• Gabriella Garbero, Rights Not Fundamental: Disability and the Right to Marry, 14 St. Louis U. J. Health L. & Pol’y (2021)
  • Law Student Comment that discusses marriage penalties for those on SSI/SSDI and discusses the potential loss of Medicaid post-marriage. Discusses potential solutions

• Disabled Adult Child (DAC) Marriage Penalty, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (2022)
  • DREDF factsheet on the DAC marriage penalty and laws that were proposed to address it. Discusses the loss of Medicaid/Medicare
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Marriage Penalty, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (2022)
  • DREDF factsheet discussing the SSI 25% marriage penalties, including laws that were proposed to address them
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Marriage Penalties: ‘Spousal Deeming’, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (2022)
  • DREDF factsheet about the SSI “spousal deeming” marriage penalty, including laws that were proposed to address it. Discusses the potential loss of Medicaid post-marriage
• Make the Expanded Spousal Impoverishment Protection Permanent, Justice In Aging
  • JIA factsheet that discusses the spousal impoverishment protection program, which “makes it possible for an individual who needs a nursing home level of care to qualify for Medicaid as a household of one, while allowing their spouse to keep income and assets so they will not become impoverished.” This protection expires in December 2023

• Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB) Hosted Briefing on Social Security Marriage Penalties (July 29, 2022)
  • Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities working group provided a policy briefing hosted by SSAB on marriage penalties in SSA programs. Participants discussed how marital status affects Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income payments.
  • Presenters included:
    • Claudia Center, Legal Director, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF)
    • Ayesha Elaine Lewis, Staff Attorney, DREDF
    • Kate Lang, Senior Staff Attorney, Justice in Aging
    • David Goldfarb, Director of Financial Security Policy, The Arc

• H.R.6640 – Marriage Equality for Disabled Adults Act, 118th Cong. (2023-2024) would
  • Allow DAC recipients to marry without losing benefits
  • Eliminate penalties for SSI recipients who marry DAC recipients
  • End the “holding out” rule for all SSI recipients

• S.2767 – SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act, 118th Cong. (2023-2024) & H.R.5408 – SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act, 118th Cong. (2023-2024) would
  • Eliminate 25% asset penalty for married people receiving SSI
  • Increase SSI asset limits
    • $10,000 is unmarried
    • $20,000 if married
• H.R. 7055 – Eliminating the Marriage Penalty in SSI Act (EMPSA), 118th Cong. (2023-2024) would
  • Eliminate 25% income and asset penalties and spousal deeming of income and assets for people diagnosed with an intellectual or developmental disability receiving SS
• H.R.7138- Supplemental Security Income Restoration Act of 2024, 118th Cong. (2023-2024) would
  • Eliminate 25% asset penalty for married people receiving SSI.
  • Increase SSI asset limits $10,000 if unmarried $20,000 if married
  • End the “holding out” rule for SSI
  • End consideration of in-kind support & maintenance
• MAPSA Act, H.R.761, 117th Cong. (2021-2022)
  • This act would eliminate consideration of spouse’s income and assets and disregard marital status for SSI recipients with intellectual and developmental disabilities
• Supplemental Security Income Restoration Act of 2021, S.2065, 117th Cong. (2021-2022)
  • This act would:
    • Eliminate the 25% marriage penalty (stipend and asset cap) on SSI-SSI couples
    • Allow individual SSI recipients to have up to $10,000 in assets and married couples to have up to $20,000
    • Raise SSI’s sub-poverty-level monthly benefits, currently $794 per month, to 100% of the federal poverty level
    • Allow individuals to earn up to $416/month through working and receive up to $128/month from other sources
    • And more
• Marriage Equality for Disabled Adults Act, H.R.6405, 117th Cong. (2021-2022)
  • This act would eliminate the statutory marriage penalty for DAC recipients, and would protect SSI recipients in DAC-SSI marriages
• SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act, S.4102, 117th Cong. (2021-2022)
  • This act would allow individual SSI recipients to have up to $10,000 in assets and married couples to have up to $20,000
• Social Security Disability Insurance: disabled adult child benefit, SJR-8, California Legislature (2021-2022)
  • This bill would eliminate marriage penalties for DAC recipients in California

• 42 U.S.C. § 402(d)
  • Social Security Act provision allowing for Childhood Disability (including Disabled Adult Child, aka “DAC) benefit
• 42 CFR 406.12(a)
  • SSA Regulation regarding eligibility for Medicare
• 20 CFR § 416.1165
  • SSA regulations on income deeming to disabled children from their ineligible parents
• 20 CFR § 416.1163
  • SSA regulations on income deeming to disabled people from their ineligible spouse
• 20 CFR § 416.1161
  • SSA regulations on determining the income of an ineligible spouse, ineligible parent, or essential person for deeming purposes
• 42 U.S. Code § 1382
  • SSI rules on eligibility for benefits for individuals and couples
• 42 U.S. Code § 1382c
  • Continued: SSI rules on eligibility for benefits for individuals and couples
• 42 U.S. Code § 1396r–5
  • More information on spousal impoverishment protection
• P.L. 116–3, SEC. 3

More information on spousal impoverishment protection:

• Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, Groups Deemed to be Receiving SSI for Medicaid Purposes, (June 12, 2002)
  • Guidance document that includes information about the special path to medicaid through SSI for DAC beneficiaries.

Pam Katz, When People With Disabilities Are Forced to Choose Between Love and Needed Benefits: Marriage Penalties, The Arc (2021)

• The Arc’s story about a couple who was impacted by SSI marriage penalties

Gabriella Garbero, The “Fundamental” Right to Marriage, The Girl Who Sits, (Jan. 10, 2021)

• Discusses the experience of Gabriella Garbero with marriage penalties

B.J. Stasio, People with Disabilities and the Federal Marriage Penalties,  Impact (2010)

• Article from the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration briefly describing the SSI/Medicaid marriage penalties and stories about three people who were impacted by them