Disabled Americans Are Punished for Getting Married

foreign I have a disabilities called spinal muscular atrophy type two do you want a flex of ham no oh yeah do you want something here okay basically the message that goes from your brain to your spinal cord to your muscles my muscles don't hear that message [Music] marriage has always been really important to me and yet I'm not able to get married because of my Medicaid we've got new stuff right one and I met online being with them has absolutely changed my life I had a lot of negative self-talk of nobody's ever going to want to be with you nobody's ever going to want to spend their life with you you're such a burden your wedding style is eclectic oh here's here's my boards that has everything on them our marriage plans right now are on hold there is a marriage penalty to where if we get married his income would make me no longer qualified to receive Medicaid so all my share drivers all my medical equipment everything I would not be able to have any of that anymore to just pay for caregivers it would be between a hundred thousand and two hundred thousand dollars a year another theater is the only type of insurance that would pay for this much care we have our entire lives to save up for a really nice venue and everything so that's true put away ten dollars ten dollars a month and by the time it's ready to happen we'll be you know seven figure wedding let's go yeah without Medicaid my life would be at risk I would probably die I don't even know if I want to duplicate house because a lot of my people are disabled there's a lot of implicit assumptions that family members will always take care of people with disabilities and that's the whole reason for the marriage penalty and that's just not realistic for anybody it's not a realistic expectation at all like that okay I am getting ready for the paraquad Shine the Light Gala it's a disability organization that helps advocate for Independent Living tonight's the big fundraising event for the year I've flonked about the marriage penalty and about a lot of other disability related issues I do as much advocacy as I can I want it to happen in their lifetime I want them to be you know happy and married because that's what they want to do right now I'm studying for the bar exam to become a lawyer I think I made the decision when I decided to go to law school that I was done being disempowered by the system with a lot of Disability Policy laws are written once and then they're forgotten about Forever by the people in power and not by people with disabilities because we have to live within those rules oh yeah oh yeah that looks really good yeah that just really really good okay all right ready to go um most disability laws were written in about the middle of the 20th century and things were just a lot different back then a lot of us were institutionalized a lot of us were not thinking about marriage privilege to share our work and the mission of equity and Independence for people with disabilities I think that the government sees us as an expense and not as people who are worthy of fundamental rights [Music] I feel just like you all continue to be great continue to let God bless you and let's continue to grow thank you [Applause] as a minority group we get our rates about 10 years after everybody else does maybe 20 years so I think it's about time for us to be able to be married without being afraid that we're gonna die [Applause] [Music] you ready okay let's get your eye makeup first and do you want me to do your full face um routine today yeah okay hello I just felt left out you want to come out no I'm good it's really normal to fall in love and to want to start a family it's really normal for disabled parents to exist and have children it's very normal and it's not treated that way by Society we want me to put your head up okay that we can talk better yeah how do you want to put my mask on okay let me go get it part of the reason that I went to law school was because I was really angry that they felt like there were a lot of obstacles that didn't need to be there that were still in my way of living a normal life and this is one of them and this is to me one of the more profound because it doesn't just affect me it also affects one and it affects our future family I know that marriage isn't for everyone but everyone should have the option okay I'm Michael larmont editor-in-chief of Vice news too often traditional news outlets shy away from the real stories and experiences of those living through Global conflicts not Vice news our reporters are on the ground fearlessly covering the human stories that shape our world you and millions of others can continue to read watch and listen to Vice news for free but we hope you'll consider making a one-time or ongoing contribution of any size advice.com contribute every contribution no matter how big or small helps support the journalism Vice news brings to you every day thank you

Channel: VICE News

Views: 162,949

Keywords: VICE News, VICE News Tonight, VICE on HBO, news, vice video, VICE on SHOWTIME, vice news 2022, marriage penalty, marriage penalty explained, marriage tax penalty, marriage and disability, disability rights, muscular dystrophy, news live, news today, news live today, medicaid, us healthcare system

Id: 0q-gJXauP3Y

Length: 6min 56sec (416 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 09 2022