U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., receives a hug from 9-year-old Lilly Teach following Monday's roundtable discussion about his effort to raise the age eligibility for the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act to 46, from the current limit that requires a person to acquire a disability by age 26. That act establishes a tax-advantaged savings plan for people with disabilities.
Nearly 2,200 people with disabilities have opened tax-advantaged savings accounts to cover education, job training, and other costs in the two years since the Pennsylvania ABLE program was established.
Now, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., is sponsoring legislation to expand the federal Achieving a Better Life Experience program. He wants to raise the age limit of the program from 26 to 46. The legislation would allow millions of Americans, including military veterans, to take advantage of the savings accounts.
"Sometimes the onset of a disability can occur much later in life," Casey told a small crowd of individuals with disabilities and their advocates gathered in a meeting room at the state Capitol on Monday.
Casey hopes his bill to expand the ABLE program can pass by the end of the year.
Since the ABLE program's launch in Pennsylvania, more than $15 million – an average of about $7,000 per accountholder – has been invested in ABLE accounts to empower people with disabilities to live more independent lives.
But advocates for the accounts are aiming to raise awareness of the program nationally and expanding its eligibility to allow more people to participate and to make the ABLE program sustainable.
As many as six million Americans could benefit from the proposed ABLE Age Adjustment Act, including as many as one million veterans who come home from their military assignments with missing limbs, head injuries, and other disabilities.
"How awesome to have returning veterans come home that don't have all these restrictions. They have the ability to save," said disability advocate Theo Braddy, president of Theo Braddy Consulting, who participated in the roundtable discussion with Casey.
Pennsylvania's ABLE program allows individuals or their family members to make state tax deductible contributions of up to $15,000 a year to an account without impacting their eligibility for social service programs such as medical assistance or Social Security disability insurance. The accounts grow tax-free through investments and are exempt from the state's inheritance tax.
Prior to ABLE's passage, individuals with disabilities could accumulate no more than $2,000 a year in assets such as savings or retirement funds without putting benefits at risk. Further, it forced individuals, including Braddy, to turn down pay raises to avoid losing benefits.
Harrisburg resident Josh Teach and his wife Lisa, whose 9-year-old daughter Lilly was born with Down syndrome, is grateful to have an ABLE account to save money for Lilly's future expenses without jeopardizing her benefits when she turns 18.
Another roundtable participant, Lynn Dorundo of Mechanicsburg, however, is ineligible to open an ABLE account. The Center for Independent Living of Central PA board member and volunteer said her disability occurred after she turned 26.
All of the money she had stashed away for retirement while she was working and not disabled has since been spent on medical expenses and modifications, she said. Saving to buy a van so she could return to the workforce without impacting her eligibility for housing assistance is among the challenges she faces.
"The ability to save at least for me personally would give me more independence," Dorundo said.
Casey said the current age limit for opening an account was set at 26 because that was the age around which consensus could be built to gain the votes needed to pass Congress in 2014 due to cost concerns.
Expanding participation in the program nationally is considered critical to its sustainability, according to the National Association of State Treasurers. Currently, 41 states and Washington, D.C., have launched ABLE programs.
Some 34,700 ABLE accounts have opened up nationwide with a combined investment of $171.7 million invested.