Deadline: Wednesday, December 18; 12:00 Noon Eastern.

In response to some of the terrible proposals we have seen from presidential candidates around mental health that call for increased institutionalization and forced treatment, NCIL has joined a group of national mental health and disability rights organizations to develop a set of principles on mental health to share with campaigns. We are doing this to make our priorities on these issues clear, and we hope other candidates will take our community into account before developing their proposals. After consulting with attorneys knowledgeable in this area, we have determined that this is an allowable form of advocacy for a 501(c)(3).

• Read the Key Principles for Mental Health Platforms

These principles are open for signature from national, state, and local organizations. If you would like to sign on, please email Jennifer Mathis from the Bazelon Center at jenniferm@bazelon.org with your organization’s name (as you would like it to appear) and your state. The deadline to sign on is Wednesday, December 18 at 12:00 Noon Eastern. Please feel free to share this with other groups who may be interested as well.

By Eryn Star, NCIL Summer Policy Intern

“We’re done fighting for marriage equality; we have it now, so we have to focus on other issues instead!” is something I’ve been hearing a lot in queer spaces for the past couple of years. I understand where many people are coming from; marriage is an institution that has been used as a tool of oppression against marginalized people, and the focus on marriage equality did lead to many LGBTQ+ rights issues getting pushed aside. However, that should not be used to deny that marriage equality remains an issue in the United States for disabled people. It is necessary for us to address this because it is both a healthcare and civil rights issue.

A major reason why many disabled people are unable to marry is because of SSI and Medicaid. SSI and Medicaid are needs-based and focus on current assets and income. If you are on SSI and/or Medicaid and you marry a partner not on those programs, your partner’s income and assets are taken into consideration, and so both of your incomes and assets will be used to determine your eligibility. Because the assets and income combined often becomes too high to qualify for these programs, many disabled people have lost their SSI and Medicaid benefits. As a result, some disabled people have been forced to divorce and live separately in order to keep SSI and/or Medicaid. If both partners are on SSI and/or Medicaid, they have an even higher risk of losing their benefits. Not only would their income and assets be combined, but they are also hit by a marriage penalty. Married couples are allowed to have less in assets than the partners would be allowed to have as individuals. They receive a maximum total benefit that’s significantly less than what they would receive on individual benefits, and is in fact only slightly more than one person’s individual benefits.