COVID-19, Disability, SSI

ABLE Accounts: Building Upon the Promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act

July 27, 2020 • By

Reading Time: 2 Minutes

Last Updated: March 17, 2021

Approximately one in five Americans has a disability. These Americans have the same hopes and dreams to participate in society as everyone else. On July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act. President Bush then said, “As the Declaration of Independence has been a beacon for people all over the world seeking freedom, it is my hope that the Americans with Disabilities Act will likewise come to be a model for the choices and opportunities of future generations around the world.”

The American with Disabilities Act requires accessibility for people with disabilities and prohibits discrimination. It extends the promise of equal opportunity and full participation for those people living with a disability.

Full participation includes the opportunity to become economically self-sufficient. Yet, millions of people with disabilities and their families depend on programs such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for food, housing, and other benefits. These programs are restricted to those people who have limited income, resources and savings.  Historically, to continue receiving benefits under these and other programs, you cannot save money.

Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) accounts help eligible beneficiaries save and have power over their own money. The funds in an ABLE account are not counted by most federally-funded means-tested benefit programs like Medicaid and SNAP. SSI does not count up to $100,000 in an ABLE account.

Disability-related expenses can lead to financial stress. Savings and contributions made to an ABLE account by the account owner, their family, friends, employer or other sources, can be used for emergencies or to support education and the owner’s future retirement. The funds can also be used for qualified disability expenses including food, housing and maintenance, medical expenses, and expenses related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. ABLE accounts add an additional layer of financial security, especially while navigating an uncertain future.

Over 63,000 individuals—out of an estimated eight million who are eligible—have opened ABLE accounts to date, making ABLE accounts one of the most under-used ways to save money and retain much needed benefits. For many people with disabilities, ABLE accounts have transformed their lives. Read our ABLE Ambassadors stories to learn what motivated them to take advantage of this opportunity and what advice they have for those who have not yet taken this important step.

To learn more about ABLE accounts and state ABLE programs, visit the ABLE National Resource Center (ABLE NRC), managed by National Disability Institute. The website has information on how to become ABLE ready and offers a state ABLE program comparison tool and guidance on setting financial goals. Building on the promise of the American with Disabilities Act, the ABLE Act can forever change lives by providing the opportunity to save money in an easy to open, low-cost, accessible, and tax-advantaged account.

Miranda Kennedy is the Director of the ABLE National Resource Center for the National Disability Institute.

This is a guest blog post created by the National Disability Institute to promote the use of ABLE accounts.  SSA provides this post as a courtesy to help notify the public of ABLE accounts.  SSA is not affiliated with and does not endorse the National Disability Institute or its services.

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Comments

  1. toptan i.

    toptan iç giyim tercih etmenizin sebebi kaliteyi ucuza satın alabilmektir. Ürünler yine orjinaldir ve size sorun yaşatmaz. Yine de bilinen tekstil markalarını tercih etmelisiniz.

  2. fantazi g.

    fantazi gecelik sizi daha çekici ve seksi göstererek partnerinizle birlikte özel dakikalar yaşamanıza yardımcı olur. Zevkinize göre modeller ya da renkler seçerek size en uygun geceliği bulmalısınız.

  3. iç g.

    iç giyim ürünlerine her zaman dikkat etmemiz gerekmektedir. Üretimde kullanılan malzemelerin kullanım oranları, kumaşın esnekliği, çekmezlik testi gibi birçok unsuru aynı anda değerlendirerek seçim yapmalıyız.

  4. yeni i.

    yeni inci sütyen kaliteyi ucuz olarak sizlere ulaştırmaktadır. Çok çeşitli sütyen varyantları mevcuttur. iç giyime damga vuran markalardan biridir ve genellikle Avrupa’da ismi sıklıkla duyulur.

  5. Janke

    Again, no mention in th article that that the disabled person has to be found disabled before age 26. So anyone who became severely ill or had a severe accident after age 26 will not qualify for ABLE. And then, this SSI recipient may somehow have money of their own to save or ( and this is who ABLE really helps) those who have wealthy relatives who want to give money but still expect SSI to pay like it does to people without money. It is a very small set of people who qualify.

    What would help many many SSI recipients (without wealthy relatives) would be to raise the general resource exclusion from the paltry $2000 to a higher amount like $5000. The limit has remained the same for decades. This would help the majority of SSI recipients who became disabled after age 26 as well as all those without wealthy relatives. Why hasn’t that limit changed? Maybe because ABLE looks better as a photo op. Image over substance.

    • Sue

      Hi, Janke, and thanks for reading our blog. Supplemental Security Income is a federal needs-based program that gives cash assistance to people with limited income and resources who are age 65 or older, blind or disabled. The current $2,000 resource limit for an individual and $3,000 for a couple (both receiving SSI) were set by law more than 30 years ago.

      When the law creating SSI was passed in October 1972, countable resources were limited to $1,500 or less for an individual, $2,250 or less for a couple. A law enacted in July 1984 increased the limit on countable resources by $100 a year for individuals and $150 a year for couples, beginning in calendar year 1985 through 1989. The current SSI limits – $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple – have been in place since 1989.

      Any increase in the resource limits would require Congress to pass legislation.

  6. Ron M.

    Just my luck. I wasnt disabled, or my mental disability wasnt apparent until the age of 29. 3 lousy years.

  7. Doddy

    My Name Doddy from Indonesia Thaks this articel very good .

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  8. Susan D.

    Can I get copies of antique ssi acct financial institution statements which is probably closed? I want 2009-2010 facts for a court docket case this is my brothers acct he nevertheless has a acct however become opened a brand new one 2014 due to a trade in who is in rate of his check. monetary organization this acct turned into at has no records

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  9. Laura W.

    want 2009-2010 statistics for a court docket case that is my brothers acct he still has a acct however become opened a new one 2014 because of a change in who’s in price of his check. bank this acct was at has no statistics due to the fact its been to long

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  10. Debra M.

    Can I get copies of old ssi acct bank statements that are closed? I need 2009-2010 records for a court case this is my brothers acct he still has a acct but was opened a new one 2014 because of a change in who is in charge of his check. bank this acct was at has no records because its been to long. PLEASE HELP! Could lose his home

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