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ABLE Act
Achieving a Better Life Experience Act (ABLE Act - HR 647/S 313) was signed into law by President Obama in 2014. The ABLE Act allows certain individuals with disabilities the opportunity to save resources in a tax-advantaged savings account (an ABLE account) for the purposes of covering disability-related expenses. ABLE accounts can be used to cover qualified disability expenses such as, but not limited to: education, housing, transportation.
Proposed changes and enhancement since 2014 include:
- ABLE Financial Planning Act: Allows ABLE beneficiaries who work and earn income to save additional amounts in their ABLE accounts and allow rollovers of 529 accounts to ABLE (529A) accounts. The 529 rollover was enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
- ABLE to Work Act: ABLE beneficiary who earns income from a job could save up to the Federal Poverty Level and qualify for the existing Saver's Credit.
- ABLE Age Adjustment Act: Raising the age of onset of a disability for ABLE accounts through age 46 (the current age is 26), allowing those who become disabled later in life to open ABLE accounts.
- Current focus: Disability advocates and Congressional champions are focused on increasing the age limit to 46 in order to provide eligibility to approximately 6 million more individuals to open ABLE accounts, which would improve the sustainability of the program.
- Resources: Please see NAST summary of sustainability for talking points, ANRC for state specific information, and Tuesday's with Liz below.
- Action Item: Educate your Members on the importance of increasing the age limit and/or advocate for your Members to support ABLE Age Adjustment Act HR 1874/S 817.
'Tuesdays with Liz' is a weekly video series highlighting current issues in disability policy. It is hosted by Liz Weintraub, a long-time disability advocate, and produced by AUCD. If you have any comments, feel free to email Liz Weintraub at [email protected] or Rylin Rodgers at [email protected]
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