ANCOR Joins Coalition Letter for ABLE Age Adjustment Act – Expands Eligibility for More People with Disabilities

As part of its work with the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), ANCOR joined a coalition letter thanking sponsors of the ABLE Age Adjustment Act for their support. The ABLE Act, which this bill amends, helps people with disabilities save money towards their health care without losing eligibility for Medicaid due to assets limits by creating dedicated accounts, similar to health savings accounts. The ABLE Age Adjustment Act would increase the amount of individuals eligible for ABLE accounts by expanding the age that one could acquire their disability in order to qualify for an ABLE account (from the current 26 years old to 46 years old). Most people with disabilities’ earnings would not be sufficient to help them cover vital health care without Medicaid assistance, so the ABLE Act has been important in ensuring people with disabilities remain financially stable. ANCOR advocated on this issue for our 2018 Policy Summit and Hill Day. We will support the re-introduced legislation age adjustment legislation in 2019 because people with disabilities are more likely to experience poverty than their peers without disabilities and this legislation helps reduce that gap.

 As written in the letter:

“The ABLE Age Adjustment Act would amend Section 529A(e) of the Internal Revenue Code to increase the eligibility threshold for ABLE accounts for onset of disability from prior to age 26 to prior to age 46. ABLE accounts are tax-favored accounts that are designed to enable individuals with disabilities to save for and pay for disability-related expenses. There are now more than 40 states with ABLE programs that empower individuals with disabilities, either in their own states or nationwide, to achieve and maintain health, independence, and quality of life, yet millions of individuals with disabilities that occurred in their late twenties, thirties, forties, and later in life are currently unable to take advantage of this important savings tool.

[…]

Enactment of this critical legislation will empower more than eight million additional individuals with disabilities to start saving their own money to better secure their financial future while bolstering the sustainability of all ABLE programs nationwide. We look forward to working with all of you to pass the bipartisan ABLE Age Adjustment Act in the 116th Congress.”