In the often discouraging search to locate help for disabled clients since last year’s passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill, one bright spot, although unrelated to that legislation, is a federal law that went into effect on January 1, 2026. The ABLE Age Adjustment Act is a long awaited measure passed without major controversy and supported by elder law attorneys and disability persons’ advocates throughout the country. This is what it does.
The ABLE Age Adjustment Act amends Section 529A of the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act to extend its provisions that were previously only available to individuals who became disabled before the age 26 to now extend its coverage to those who became disabled before age 46. The simple change can have dramatic consequences.
ABLE in my opinion is a great idea. What it does is allow severely disabled persons to set up their own banking and investment account (one account only) without worrying whether saving in their specialized ABLE account would cause them to lose hard fought government and other benefits. There are restrictions that need to be noted.
The individual must still have a severe disability that would meet the Social Security Administration’s criteria defined as resulting in marked functional limitations which have lasted or can be expected to last for at least 12 months. The person, however, does not have to be receiving or have previously received such benefits to be eligible. The funds are to be used for qualified disability expenses although this term can be more expansively interpreted than might be supposed.
ABLE properly applied can allow up to a maximum of $100,000 accumulated over years without being considered a countable resource for
FAFSA (student loans), HUD, SSI, SSDI, SNAP, Medicare or Medicaid. See “The ABLE Age Adjustment Act Fact Sheet” published by the ABLE National Resource Center, https://ablernc.org/the-able-age-adjustment-act-fact-sheet
Consider the alternative. When individuals or their family members or guardians would apply (and still do apply) for benefits under such programs as Supplemental Security Income the disabled persons were (and still are) subject to extremely severe limitations regarding what they can keep and what they can earn. A few dollars over a limit can cause them to lose benefits even though they are still severely disabled.
What the earlier version of ABLE did is allow the use of a specialized account that permits the individual (in the case of the earlier Act only if he/she became disabled before age 26 – now before age 46) to maintain eligibility for crucial public benefits while building assets. These accounts can be set up with banks and investment companies that qualify under State law programs and funds can grow tax free. It took awhile to get the underlying program going and individual states do set up their own programs. Pennsylvania does have such a program although individuals are not limited to setting up their account in the state of their residence. The intent is for severely disabled persons to gain some financial independence and security. Individuals other than the disabled individual can contribute also.
Because details always matter, be sure to research before setting out to engage.
Before passage of the new Act the date of onset of disability needed to be before the age of 26. Now the cutoff date is before the age of 46. The difference is enormous. Veterans, among others, are eligible. This means that, for example, if an individual previously was healthy but was later injured in an accident or became disabled by other means so long as the disability can be established and confirmed as having occurred before the age of 46 and continued in existence now he could be eligible to participate in the program.
The steps described for those who believe they are interested or their families and other parties are as follows: 1st Verify Your Eligibility or the eligibility of the person involved. Next, Research State ABLE Plans. Then Select an ABLE Plan. Research further. The bank or financial organization should be familiar with the plan and set up to provide information. Next, compile Information on opening an account. The ABLE Account is always opened in the name of the person who has the disability but others can help. Information needs to be gathered and supplied. Housing is a special issue. Additional information is also available from the organization referenced above at the ABLE National Resource Center.
Esquire, Colliton Law Associates, P.C. Janet Colliton has practiced law for over 38 years, 37 of them in Chester County, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. Her practice, Colliton Law Associates, PC, is limited to elder law, Medicaid, including advice, applications and appeals, and other benefits planning including Veterans benefits, life care and special needs planning, guardianships, retirement, and estate planning and administration.
