The Delaware Treasurer’s Office is calling on Congress to expand access to a disability savings plan.
The proposed expansion could allow 6 million more Americans to sign up for the program.
The Achieving a Better Life Experience act, or ABLE, allows individuals with disabilities to open bank accounts that are exempt from their eligibility for Supplemental Security Income benefits.
Normally, individuals on such benefits can only hold a maximum of $2,000 in assets. But this account allows them to store up to 100,000 dollars to use for whatever reason.
State Treasurer Colleen Davis wants Congress to raise the age limit for when a person’s disability began from 26 to 46.
She says she’s talked with a lot of military families that want to take advantage of these accounts - but can’t because of the age restriction.
“There’s a significant number of individuals who are veterans, retired military who may, in the line of duty, be afflicted by some type of disability. That maybe occurs at the age of 27 or 28 and by expanding the age we would be able to include those individuals.”
Proponents say many people with disabilities are locked into a cycle of poverty because they can only hold 2,000 dollars in assets to remain eligible for Medicaid and SSI.
Davis says that’s exactly what these accounts are designed to address.
“If you have to spend down your assets on a continual basis you never get to a place where “today I can work, tomorrow I don’t know if I’ll still be able to work.” And sort of building up that nest egg which we want everyone to do.”
The program started in Delaware over a year ago and already has 87 participants with over 750,000 dollars saved.
Among the sponsors of the House and Senate bills are Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester and Sen. Tom Carper. Sen. Chris Coons, while not a sponsor of the legislation, has told Davis he is supportive of raising the age limit.
