I am writing from a deeply personal perspective. My husband is a disability income recipient and his income alone is not enough for us to not be in poverty. After our daughter was born, I started to seek employment so we could afford a house. However, I learned that my husband's disability income as well as his healthcare would be forfeited if I were to become employed. This rule severely limits our ability to improve our living standards and contributes to a cycle of financial hardship. 

My husband is one of 7.4 million people who rely upon Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, a federal program that provides monthly cash assistance to disabled and older people with little income and resources. And for my husband and others, being on SSI is also the way they get health insurance.

An NPR investigation of SSI, found that many disabled people get caught by this “marriage penalty,” a left-over rule from decades ago when government policies didn’t account for disabled people finding love and getting married.

NPR interviewed dozens of people who rely on SSI but, as a result, say they are stuck because of the program’s treatment of those who marry. Some say they’ve made painful decisions to close themselves off from love and romance altogether — in order not to risk losing SSI.

SSI was created in 1972 and started paying out benefits 50 years ago. The program aimed to lift disabled, blind and elderly people with little money out of poverty. The so-called marriage penalty, for instance, results from SSI’s limit on how much someone can own in savings and assets. It’s $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple. Those levels haven’t budged since 1989. If it had kept up with inflation from the program’s start, the limit today for an individual would top $10,000. For a couple, it would be close to $17,000.

Attorney Ayesha Elaine Lewis leads a national campaign to end the SSI program’s limits on marital assets. “People want to have that freedom to love who they love, love openly, love boldly,” says Lewis of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, or DREDF.

A spokesperson for Social Security told NPR that they don’t keep track of how many people lose benefits because they’re married. And that it’s up to Congress to change the policy.

Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley called for raising the asset limit. Bipartisan legislation before Congress would do that, high enough to effectively end the marriage penalty. Bills to raise asset limits have stalled, partly because of cost. Social Security’s actuaries estimate that raising the limit to $10,000 would add $9.8 billion to the program over 10 years because more people would become eligible for benefits.

Our request is for the government to recognize the need for reforming this ruling, allowing recipients' spouses to work without the fear of losing their disability income. This will not only enhance the dignity of persons with disabilities and their families but also contribute to a more inclusive and productive society. Please sign and share this petition and help 7.4 million people be able to live without loosing their healthcare and income.