08/28/2026
In the United States, living with a disability—or caring for someone who is—often means navigating a system that penalizes economic mobility and financial stability.
For millions of Americans, the "hidden cost" of disability is embedded in systemic structural barriers that force families and adults into impossible financial choices such as:
The Marriage Penalty: Adults who rely on Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid for essential health care face benefit cuts or complete loss of coverage if they choose to marry.
The Income Cap Tightrope: For families raising medically complex children, even a modest 1% cost-of-living raise at work can push household income over strict state thresholds, threatening critical Medicaid waivers that pay for specialized nursing and life-support equipment.
Ford Foundation U.S. Disability Rights program grantees are working to advance economic justice for the more than 40 million Americans living with a disability.
Learn more about how Patrice and Garry are fighting for marriage equality for everyone in the disability community: https://www.fordfoundation.org/news-and-stories/stories/the-cost-of-i-do-in-the-disability-community/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=organic_social&utm_campaign=DisabilityDemandsJustice&utm_content=DisabilityPatriceGarry
Learn how families are mobilizing into action for medically complex children with Little Lobbyists: https://www.fordfoundation.org/news-and-stories/stories/an-economic-tightrope-for-families-with-medically-complex-and-disabled-kids/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=organic_social&utm_campaign=DisabilityDemandsJustice&utm_content=DisabilityLittleLobbyists
