Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and the “Spousal Deeming” Marriage Penalty

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a federal program administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) for disabled people, blind people, and older adults who have little to no income and assets. Recipients younger than 65 must have a qualifying disability. SSI provides a modest monthly stipend, also known as cash benefits, and in most states SSI recipients receive Medicaid. As of January 2026, there are approximately 7.4 million SSI recipients, most of whom have a qualifying disability.

Whether an individual is eligible for SSI and the amount of their monthly stipend depend on their income and assets. People with more income receive less in cash benefits, and having a certain amount in income or assets makes you completely ineligible for SSI. In 2026 the maximum monthly stipend for SSI is $994 for an individual and $1,491 for a married couple. Therefore, to be eligible for SSI, an individual’s countable monthly income cannot exceed $994 and a married couple’s combined countable monthly income cannot exceed $1,491. An individual also cannot have over $2,000 in assets and a married couple cannot have over $3,000 in assets. These asset limits have not changed in 35 years.

Unmarried people who receive SSI benefits are treated as married if SSA decides that they and their partner are pretending to be married. This is known as the “holding out rule.”

In most states, SSI recipients are also eligible for Medicaid, which covers vital services such as Personal Care Attendants (PCAs), Direct Support Professionals (DSPs), certain durable medical equipment (DME), extended hospital stays, and more. Many people with significant disabilities must have Medicaid to live in the community with services and supports instead of in institutional settings.

SSI recipients can lose their cash benefits and Medicaid if they marry a person with even a modest income or level of assets. This is because SSA counts part of the spouse’s income and the spouse’s assets as belonging to the SSI recipient. For many SSI recipients, this means that they are then considered or “deemed” to have income or assets that are too high for SSI or Medicaid. This counting is called “spousal deeming.”

When an SSI recipient marries a person who does not receive SSI, a portion of the non-SSI spouse’s gross income is counted by the SSA and can cause the SSI spouse to have a lower cash benefit. Under 2026 benefit levels, and assuming the SSI spouse has no income other than SSI, the reductions begin once the non-SSI spouse earns about $1,080 in gross income per month. Here are some examples of what happens under the current rules when the SSI spouse has no non-SSI income:

• If the non-SSI spouse earns $1,200 per month, about the earnings of a full-time worker at the federal minimum wage ($7.25/hour), then the SSI spouse’s stipend falls from $994 to $934 – a 6 percent cut.
• If the non-SSI spouse earns $2,600 per month, about half of what the median full-time U.S. worker earns, then the SSI spouse’s stipend falls from $994 to $233 – a 77 percent cut.
• If the non-SSI spouse earns $3000 per month, then the SSI spouse’s stipend falls from $994 to $34 – a 97 percent cut.
• If the non-SSI spouse earns $3,100 per month – $37,200 a year – then the SSI spouse’s stipend goes down to $0, the SSI spouse is deemed to have too much income and the SSI spouse is no longer eligible for SSI.
• Note: The final numbers may be different in some states where there is a state supplement to the federal stipend. Additional reductions would be made if the SSI recipient also has income or if the non-SSI spouse’s income came from a source other than work, such as Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits.

If the SSI spouse’s stipend goes to $0 due to “spousal deeming,” then they no longer qualify for SSI. Losing SSI can mean losing Medicaid unless the SSI spouse can qualify for Medicaid another way.

“Spousal deeming” also applies to assets. If the combined countable assets of the couple exceeds $3,000, then the SSI spouse no longer qualifies for SSI and can lose Medicaid. With such a low asset limit, marrying someone with just $3,100 in savings could cost someone their SSI stipend and Medicaid.

Our society has recognized that individuals have a fundamental right to marry a person of their choice – as long as that person also wants to marry them! But spousal deeming and other marriage penalties enforced by SSA mean that people who receive SSI do not have this freedom. Many SSI recipients cannot survive without their benefits:

• Our country has historically organized much of its systems for the delivery of medical care and support services to disabled people through Medicaid, which means that many people with significant disabilities cannot live without Medicaid. They simply cannot receive the care or services they need any other way.
• Many people receiving SSI do not qualify for Medicare.
• SSI asset limits have not changed for 35 years, but the cost of living has continued to increase, making these limits harsher and harsher over time.
• People with disabilities often have significant disability-related expenses that can make their cost of living higher than that of their non-disabled peers.
• People with disabilities have significantly lower marriage rates and higher divorce rates than people without disabilities. The overall first-marriage rate for people ages 18 to 49 in the United States is 24.4 per 1,000 for people with disabilities and 48.9 for people without disabilities. Additionally, between 2009 and 2018, nearly 1.1 million Americans with disabilities got divorced, while only 593,000 got married. In the same period, 1.5 million Americans without disabilities got divorced, while 5.2 million got married. Spousal deeming no doubt contributes to this disparity, as those with disabilities are not incentivized to marry when it would result in significant losses.
• People under the age of 65 who receive SSI are blind or have a disability that prevents them from engaging in “substantial gainful activity.” This means that SSI recipients generally cannot earn enough money to make up for the stipends and health benefits they lose if they marry.
• Many people cannot afford the extensive healthcare and support costs associated with significant disability.

Is there any way to change the rules to give disabled people and their partners marriage equality?

Several bills have been introduced which would limit the harm caused by spousal deeming.

• H.R.1389 – Marriage Equality for Disabled Adults Act 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.1234 & H.R.2540 – SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act would
  • Eliminate 25% asset penalty from spousal deeming for married people receiving SSI.
  • Increase SSI asset limits
    • $10,000 if unmarried
    • $20,000 if married
  • Asset limits would adjust annually with inflation
• S.73 – Eliminating the Marriage Penalty in SSI Act (EMPSA) would
  • Eliminate 25% income and asset penalties and spousal deeming of income and assets for people diagnosed with an intellectual or developmental disability receiving SSI

The SSA can itself change the “spousal deeming” rules for SSI recipients without Congress doing anything. The SSI law says that a portion of spousal income must be counted, except where the SSA finds that deeming is “inequitable under the circumstances.” Under this rule, the SSA could count less of the income received by the non-SSI spouse by first deducting a living allowance. This is what the SSA does for parents who do not receive SSI but live with a child who receives SSI.

If SSA subtracted a living allowance from the non-SSI spouse’s gross income before deeming, then less of the non-SSI spouse’s income would be considered in calculating the SSI spouse’s stipend.

The living allowance could be based on the monthly federal benefit rate (in 2026, $994 per month). Under this option, the non-SSI spouse can earn more before SSA begins reducing the SSI spouse’s cash benefits. If the SSI spouse has no income other than SSI benefits, cash benefit reductions would not begin until the non-SSI spouse earns more than about $2,073 per month in gross income. Assuming the SSI spouse has no non-SSI income, here are some examples of what would happen with a $994 monthly spousal living allowance deduction:

• If the non-SSI spouse earns $1,200 per month, then the SSI spouse’s cash benefit stays the same, $994.
• If the non-SSI spouse earns $2,600 per month, then the SSI spouse’s cash benefit goes down, but by less than under the current system – to $731, or about a 26 percent cut.
• If the non-SSI spouse earns $3,000 per month, then the SSI spouse’s cash benefit goes down, but by less than under the current system – to $531, or about a 47 percent cut.
• If the non-SSI spouse earns $3,100 per month, then the SSI spouse’s federal benefit goes down to $481 (a 52 percent cut), but this is more than the $0 under the current system. The SSI spouse would still receive a monthly cash benefit and maintain eligibility for Medicaid through SSI.
• It’s not until the non-SSI spouse earns about $4,060 per month, or $48,720 per year, that the SSI spouse’s stipend goes to $0 and they are no longer eligible for SSI.

As you can see from these examples, a spousal living allowance is a powerful tool to increase marriage equality for SSI recipients who marry someone not receiving SSI.

• 42 U.S.C. § 1382
• 42 U.S.C. § 1382a(b)(2),(4)
• United States Social Security Administration, “Income Exclusions for SSI Program,” available at https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/incomexcluded.html.
•  Social Security Administration, Monthly Statistical Snapshot, January 2026, available at https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/quickfacts/stat_snapshot/2026-01.pdf.
• Richard Balkus and Susan Wilschke, Treatment of Married Couples in the SSI Program, available at https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/issuepapers/ip2003-01.html.
•  United States Social Security Administration, “Monthly Statistical Snapshot,” January 2026, available at https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/quickfacts/stat_snapshot/2026-01.pdf.
• Matt Messel & Brad Trenkamp, “Characteristics of Noninstitutionalized DI, SSI, and OASI Program Participants, 2016 Update,” United States Social Security Administration, available at https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/rsnotes/rsn2022-01.html.
• United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by selected characteristics, annual averages,” Table 7 – 2025, available at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/wkyeng.t07.htm (last accessed February 12, 2026).