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Alert on Marriage Penalty

  There is an argument stating without counting a spouse's assets more PWDs would be able to go on Medicaid or stay on Medicaid and this would cost Medicaid more money. There are some flaws in this argument. Using myself as an example I will show how Medicaid will spend no more money and how money would be saved.

   I was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at age 3 (www.mda.org/disease/dmd.html) ). At almost age 37, I am on a ventilator 24/7 and can only turn my head a little and move my fingers slightly. Having a pre-existing condition and high medical bills, the only way to receive the care I need is through Medicaid and it is the same for many with permanent disabilities. Let's say I got married and our joint assets are more than $3,000. I would lose my Medicaid benefits. With my nursing costs alone being more than $300,000 a year our assets would go below $3,000 in a matter of months and I could go back on Medicaid. During this process my spouse would probably have had to take a pay cut or quit their job altogether to ensure we keep our assets below $3,000. Think for a moment what we might then need. Off the top of my head I come up with housing assistance, food stamps, and Medicaid for my spouse and for any children. Without the Medicaid Marriage Penalty my spouse would have probably taken care of all of the above and more instead of the government.

  PWDs on Medicaid who get married and cannot stay on Medicaid saves the Medicaid program some money, but it costs the government more money. People are not stupid enough to get married and lose their Medicaid benefits and people needing to get on Medicaid sometimes get divorced. So there would actually be no change in the number of people on Medicaid. This doesn’t mean marriage isn’t important to PWDs, just no more people would be on if this rule didn't exist.

   The Medicaid Marriage Penalty is misdirected and wrong because it forbids PWDs from getting married or even staying married for absolutely no reason. The only thing the Medicaid Marriage Penalty does is bring people down and it does not save money. PWDs deserve to be able to get married to the one they love. Some believe the only way to be with the one they love is through marriage.

  I hope you will get involved in promoting the new bill against the Medicaid Marriage Penalty in Wisconsin by contacting your legislators about LRB-1081. Let's also raise our voice in unison to open a Federal bill against the Medicaid Marriage Penalty because this rule limits the pursuit of happiness of PWDs in every part of the country. If you believe PWDs should be able to get married please go to DisabilityVoice, learn more about Medicaid Marriage Penalty issue, and sign the online petition. Please don't forget to tell everyone about this including local and Federal Legislators!

Sincerely, Timothy A Carey

Also, there is an online form for a petition Against the Medicaid Marriage Penalty at the bottom of this page.