Obama signs the ABLE Act

President Obama has enacted the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act (ABLE) which will allow tax-free savings accounts to help individuals and families cover lifetime disability expenses.

ABLE will allow individuals will disabilities to protect or qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid by eliminating a $2,000 cap that now applies to conventional savings accounts. The federal government must first determine eligible expenses before the accounts become available, which is expected late in 2015.

Autism Speaks, the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) and other advocacy groups have been credited for helping drive support for ABLE. The bill was renamed in honor of Steve Beck, a former Board member of NDSS and driving force behind the bill who died suddenly in early December.

To learn more about the ABLE act, please see:  http://www.autismspeaks.org/advocacy/advocacy-news/obama-signs-able-act-law.