Able Act Update

In 2014 the U.S. Congress approved and then-President Obama signed the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act. It set out a way for states to help disabled individuals maintain their financial eligibility for Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and other key federal benefits – while also setting aside in tax-sheltered accounts up to $14,000 per year of their personal funds for education, job training, assistive technology, transportation, and more.

Previously, the disability benefits eligibility threshold was a maximum of $2,000 in personal assets; under ABLE that rises to $100,000, so the disabled and their families can maintain important aid and better save and plan for the future. Total ABLE-eligible beneficiaries in Washington are estimated at 130,000 to 180,000 adults and children, and roughly one-quarter of them have sufficient resources for participation to be feasible.

The passage of the U.S. ABLE Act set the stage for state legislatures to decide whether to carry through, by establishing state-level frameworks to activate the federal law’s opportunities. The vast majority of states have either already implemented their own ABLE statute, or are in the process of doing so.

During the 2016 legislative session, Washington state’s ABLE program was authorized via the passage and signing of ESHB 2323. The legislation creates an ABLE Governing Board that must design and implement an ABLE savings and investment program for eligible individuals with disabilities by July 1, 2017. The ABLE Governing Board is comprised of:

  • The State Treasurer or his or her designee;
  • The Program Director for the Committee on Advanced Tuition Payment;
  • The Director of the Office of Financial Management or his or her designee; and
  • Four members with financial, legal, or disability program experience, appointed by the Governor.

Washington’s ABLE Governing Board was formed in the fall of 2016 and has been meeting regularly with intent to launch the state’s program. Once it has been established, the Office of the State Treasurer (OST) will work hard to notify the public, and the disability community in particular, of its availability.

Although the State Treasurer is represented on the ABLE Governing Board, the program is housed under the Washington State Department of Commerce (DOC). DOC’s ABLE coordinator is:

Peter Tassoni, 360-725-3125, peter.tassoni@commerce.wa.gov Washington Department of Commerce | 1011 Plum St. SE | P.O. Box 42525 | Olympia, WA 98504-2525

 

The Able Act:  10 Things You Should Know


1. What is an ABLE account?


ABLE Accounts, which are tax-advantaged savings accounts for individuals with disabilities
and their families, will be created as a result of the passage of the ABLE Act of 2014. Income
earned by the accounts would not be taxed. Contributions to the account made by any
person (the account beneficiary, family and friends) would not be tax deductible.


2. Why the need for ABLE accounts?


Millions of individuals with disabilities and their families depend on a wide variety of
public benefits for income, health care and food and housing assistance. Eligibility for these
public benefits (SSI, SNAP, Medicaid) require meeting a means or resource test that limits
eligibility to individuals to report more than $2,000 in cash savings, retirement funds and
other items of significant value. To remain eligible for these public benefits, an individual
must remain poor. For the first time in public policy, the ABLE Act recognizes the extra and
significant costs of living with a disability. These include costs, related to raising a child
with significant disabilities or a working age adult with disabilities, for accessible housing
and transportation, personal assistance services, assistive technology and health care not
covered by insurance, Medicaid or Medicare. 


For the first time, eligible individuals and families will be allowed to establish ABLE savings
accounts that will not affect their eligibility for SSI, Medicaid and other public benefits. The
legislation explains further that an ABLE account will, with private savings, "secure funding
for disability-related expenses on behalf of designated beneficiaries with disabilities that
will supplement, but not supplant, benefits provided through private insurance, Medicaid, 
SSI, the beneficiary's employment and other sources."


3. Am I eligible for an ABLE account?


Passage of legislation is a result of a series of compromises. The final version of the ABLE
Act limits eligibility to individuals with significant disabilities with an age of onset of
disability before turning 26 years of age. If you meet this criteria and are also receiving
benefits already under SSI and/or SSDI, you are automatically eligible to establish an ABLE
account. If you are not a recipient of SSI and/or SSDI, but still meet the age of onset
disability requirement, you would still be eligible to open an ABLE account if you meet SSI
criteria regarding significant functional limitations. The regulations to be written in 2015
by the Treasury Department will have to explain further the standard of proof and required
medical documentation. You need not be under the age of 26 to be eligible for an ABLE
account. You could be over the age of 26, but must have the documentation of disability
that indicates age of onset before the age of 26.


4. Are there limits to how much money can be put in an ABLE account?


The total annual contributions by all participating individuals, including family and friends, 
is $14,000. The amount will be adjusted annually for inflation. Under current tax law, 
$14,000 is the maximum amount that individuals can make as a gift to someone else and
not pay taxes (gift tax exclusion). The total limit over time that could be made to an ABLE
account will be subject to the individual state and their limit for education-related 529
savings accounts. Many states have set this limit at more than $300,000 per plan. However, 
for individuals with disabilities who are recipients of SSI and Medicaid, the ABLE Act sets
some further limitations. The first $100,000 in ABLE accounts would be exempted from the
SSI $2,000 individual resource limit. If and when an ABLE account exceeds $100,000, the
beneficiary would be suspended from eligibility for SSI benefits and no longer receive that
monthly income. However, the beneficiary would continue to be eligible for Medicaid. 
States would be able to recoup some expenses through Medicaid upon the death of the
beneficiary.


5. Which expenses are allowed by ABLE accounts?


A "qualified disability expense" means any expense related to the designated beneficiary as
a result of living a life with disabilities. These include education, housing, transportation, 
employment training and support, assistive technology, personal support services, health
care expenses, financial management and administrative services and other expenses
which will be further described in regulations to be developed in 2015 by the Treasury
Department.


6. Where do I go to open an ABLE account?


Each state is responsible for establishing and operating an ABLE program. If a state should
choose not to establish its own program, the state may choose to contract with another
state to still offer its eligible individuals with significant disabilities the opportunity to open
an ABLE account.


After President Obama signs the ABLE Act, the Secretary of the Department of Treasury
will begin to develop regulations that will guide the states in terms of a) the information
required to be presented to open an ABLE account; b) the documentation needed to meet
the requirements of ABLE account eligibility for a person with a disability; and c) the
definition details of "qualified disability expenses" and the documentation that will be
needed for tax reporting. 


No accounts can be established until the regulations are finalized following a public
comment period on proposed rules for program implementation. States will begin to accept
applications to establish ABLE accounts before the end of 2015.


7. Can I have more than one ABLE account?


No. The ABLE Act limits the opportunity to one ABLE account per eligible individual.

 
8. Will states offer options to invest the savings contributed to an ABLE account?


Like state 529 college savings plans, states are likely to offer qualified individuals and
families multiple options to establish ABLE accounts with varied investment strategies. 
Each individual and family will need to project possible future needs and costs over time, 
and to assess their risk tolerance for possible future investment strategies to grow their
savings. Account contributors or designated beneficiaries are limited, by the ABLE Act, to
change the way their money is invested in the account up to two times per year.


9. How many eligible individuals and families might benefit from establishing an ABLE
account?


There are 58 million individuals with disabilities in the United States. To meet the
definition of significant disability required by the legislation to be eligible to establish an
ABLE account, the conservative number would be approximately 10 percent of the larger
group, or 5.8 million individuals and families. Further analysis is needed to understand
more fully the size of this market and more about their needs for new savings and
investment products.


10. How is an ABLE account different than a special needs or pooled trust?


An ABLE Account will provide more choice and control for the beneficiary and family. Cost
of establishing an account will be considerably less than either a Special Needs Trust (SNT) 
or Pooled Income Trust. With an ABLE account, account owners will have the ability to
control their funds and, if circumstances change, still have other options available to them. 
Determining which option is the most appropriate will depend upon individual
circumstances. For many families, the ABLE account will be a significant and viable option
in addition to, rather than instead of, a Trust program.

P.O. Box 1077 Lake Stevens, WA 98258 Contact: lori.schmieder@dsasc.org