Disability Law Journal

Eligibility for Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid is essential for individuals with physical, developmental, intellectual, and other disabilities because it provides access to habilitative care. Habilitative care provides services necessary to maintain a base-level quality of life and facilitates independent living. Some of the benefits provided to disabled individuals through habilitative care are in-home assistance, job support, and adaptive equipment. Unfortunately, for many disabled individuals, the choice of marriage disqualifies them from receiving the benefits they need to live independently with in-home assistance and support. This disqualification from governmental services is referred to as “the marriage penalty.” This marriage penalty forces many disabled individuals to either opt out of marriage or lose their benefits. This limitation can be changed. This note will suggest the exclusion of spousal income for determination of services, passing the SSI Restoration Act, discontinuing the couple rate, assessing individual income, and enacting uniform definitions of “disability”and “habilitative care” to apply in every state which will all help in giving disabled individuals an equal choice when considering marriage.