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ABLE Act

People with disAbilities, and their families, will soon have a tax-favored way to save money for a range of expenses.

In December, Congress passed the ABLE Act, short for Achieving a Better Life Experience. The law enables the creation of special savings accounts, modeled after the popular Section 529 education plans that many families use to save money for college. The new plans will be known as 529A accounts.

Under the new law, disAbled people and families with children who have disAbilities can contribute to these savings accounts, and the funds can be invested and grow tax-free. Withdrawals from the accounts will not be taxed as long as the money is spent on allowed types of expenses for the beneficiary, like housing, education, transportation, health care and rehabilitation.

The 529As are expected to become available in the second half of 2015, after the Treasury Department issues regulations to define details of the accounts. Because the program will be state-sponsored — as are the existing 529 college fund programs — each state also must approve the program, or contract with another state to serve its residents.

ABLE Accounts: 10 Things You Must 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 disAabilities 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.

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.

Congenital Heart Defects: Frequently Asked Questions

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What is a congenital heart defect?

Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are problems with the heart’s structure that are present at birth.
Common examples include holes in the inside walls of the heart and narrowed or leaky valves. In more severe forms of CHDs, blood vessels or heart chambers may be missing, poorly formed, and/or in the wrong place.

How common are congenital heart defects?

CHDs are the most common birth defects. CHDs occur in almost 1% of births.
An approximate 100-200 deaths are due to unrecognized heart disease in newborns each year. These numbers exclude those dying before diagnosis.
Nearly 40,000 infants in the U.S. are born each year with CHDs.
CHDs are as common as autism and about twenty-five times more common than cystic fibrosis.
Approximately two to three million individuals are thought to be living in the United States with CHDs. Because there is no U.S. system to track CHDs beyond early childhood, more precise estimates are not available.
Thanks to improvements in survival, the number of adults living with CHDs is increasing. It is now believed that the number of adults living with CHDs is at least equal to, if not greater than, the number of children living with CHDs.

What is the health impact of congenital heart defects?

CHDs are the most common cause of infant death due to birth defects.
Approximately 25% of children born with a CHD will need heart surgery or other interventions to survive.
Over 85% of babies born with a CHD now live to at least age 18. However, children born with more severe forms of CHDs are less likely to reach adulthood.
Surgery is often not a cure for CHDs. Many individuals with CHDs require additional operation(s) and/or medications as adults.
People with CHDs face a life-long risk of health problems such as issues with growth and eating, developmental delays, difficulty with exercise, heart rhythm problems, heart failure, sudden cardiac arrest or stroke.
People with CHDs are now living long enough to develop illnesses like the rest of the adult population, such as high blood pressure, obesity and acquired heart disease.
CHDs are now the most common heart problem in pregnant women.

What causes congenital heart defects?

Most causes of CHDs are unknown. Only 15-20% of all CHDs are related to known genetic conditions.
Most CHDs are thought to be caused by a combination of genes and other risk factors, such as environmental exposures and maternal conditions. Because the heart is formed so early in pregnancy, the damage may occur before most women know they are pregnant.
Environmental exposures that may be related to risk of having a CHD include the mother’s diet and certain chemicals and medications. Maternal diabetes is a recognized cause of CHDs. Maternal obesity, smoking, and some infections also may raise the risk of having a baby with a CHD. Preventing these risk factors before a pregnancy is crucial.
A baby’s risk of having a CHD is increased by 3 times if the mother, father, or sibling has a CHD.

February is National AMD/Low Vision Awareness Month

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AMD or Age-Related Macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss affecting over 15 million adults over the age of 50.To understand how AMD affects your vision. Take your left hand and cover your left eye, now make a fist with your right hand. Take your right fist and place it directly in front of your right eye. The only thing you should see is images in your periphery or side vision. Now imagine that this is how you are to function within the world.

AMD
Age-Related Macular degeneration can develop so slowly that it’s not until the vision is getting severely bad that the patient will notice. Age-Related Macular Degeneration primarily destroys the sharp central vision controlled by a spot at the back of the retina called the macula. Sharp central vision is needed to read, drive, identify faces, watch television and perform daily tasks that require straight ahead vision.

Risk Factors
The exact cause of AMD is not known. But there are a number of risk factors that may play a role. Some you can help control, some you can’t.The same things that put you at risk for heart disease and stroke also put you at risk for AMD. These include:
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Obesity
• Smoking
Risks you cannot control include age, family history, gender and race.
Symptoms
AMD symptoms include blurriness, wavy lines, or a blind spot. You may also notice visual distortions such as:
• Straight lines or faces appearing wavy
• Doorways seeming crooked
• Objects appearing smaller or farther away
If you notice any of these symptoms, you should see an ophthalmologist as soon as possible. If you are diagnosed with wet AMD, it is important to see a Retina Specialist for the most appropriate care

Living with AMD
Make the Most of your Vision. Millions of people have macular degeneration and millions of them continue to do everything they always did. Because you never become blind with AMD, there is always sight available if you know how to use it.
The peripheral vision you have helps you to get around the house and outside. There are devices and techniques for everything from reading to cooking to watching sports on TV. You may have to stop driving at some point, but for everything else, there is a solution.
If you are losing sight, there are some simple things you can do on your own to improve your ability to see. Don’t become discouraged! You will probably need to try out multiple devices before you find one that works for you. These range from magnifiers that are held in the hand or suspended on a stand to devices that attach to your glasses or computers that help you to read.

Things you can do on your own:
• Improve the lighting in your home and office. This may not necessarily mean that you should increase the lighting or the brightness. Glare is often a problem for people with low vision. You’ll need to experiment to see what works best for you. Special lights are available through many catalogs.
• Use high contrast for reading and writing. Write in large letters with a broad felt tip pen on white or light paper.
• Use large print books or try other media, like books on tape, disk or mp3. Most libraries have a section of these or you can find them online. There are also special libraries for visually impaired.
• Use a hand held magnifier. In the beginning, you may find some help at your local drug store by trying out the various small hand-held magnifiers available. If one of them helps your vision, you should certainly use it. Other magnifying devices may be more useful if your vision is very bad.

January Is Glaucoma Awareness Month

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Glaucoma is a very misunderstood disease. Often, people don’t realize the severity or who is affected.

Key Facts About Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness
Glaucoma can cause blindness if it is left untreated. And unfortunately approximately 10% of people with glaucoma who receive proper treatment still experience loss of vision.
There is no cure (yet) for glaucoma
Glaucoma is not curable, and vision lost cannot be regained. With medication and/or surgery, it is possible to halt further loss of vision. Since open-angle glaucoma is a chronic condition, it must be monitored for life. Diagnosis is the first step to preserving your vision.
Everyone is at risk for glaucoma
Everyone is at risk for glaucoma from babies to senior citizens. Older people are at a higher risk for glaucoma but babies can be born with glaucoma (approximately 1 out of every 10,000 babies born in the United States). Young adults can get glaucoma, too. African Americans in particular are susceptible at a younger age.
There may be no symptoms to warn you
With open-angle glaucoma, the most common form, there are virtually no symptoms. Usually, no pain is associated with increased eye pressure. Vision loss begins with peripheral or side vision. You may compensate for this unconsciously by turning your head to the side, and may not notice anything until significant vision is lost. The best way to protect your sight from glaucoma is to get tested. If you have glaucoma, treatment can begin immediately.

Some Statistics About Glaucoma

It is estimated that over 2.2 million Americans have glaucoma but only half of those know they have it.
In the U.S., more than 120,000 are blind from glaucoma, accounting for 9% to 12% of all cases of blindness.
Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the world, according to the World Health Organization.
After cataracts, glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness among African Americans.
Blindness from glaucoma is 6 to 8 times more common in African Americans than Caucasians.
African Americans are 15 times more likely to be visually impaired from glaucoma than Caucasians.
The most common form, open-angle glaucoma, accounts for 19% of all blindness among African Americans compared to 6% in Caucasians.
Other high-risk groups include: people over 60, family members of those already diagnosed, diabetics, and people who are severely nearsighted.
Estimates put the total number of suspected cases of glaucoma at over 60 million worldwide.

Holiday Travel Safety Tips

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With Christmas and New Year’s swiftly approaching, multitudes of people will be traveling. AAA predicts 98.6 million Americans will travel this holiday season between December 23, 2014 and January 4, 2015. The organization also anticipates that 91% will travel by car, truck, or van, 6% will travel by air, and 3% will take a bus or train. All of this travel traffic can make it treacherous to get around if you are not paying attention.

In addition to the higher risk of traveling during the holidays with the extra people on the road, the weeks before can also be dangerous as many folks are out shopping and may be distracted as the frantically rush around searching for the perfect gifts.

Awareness of the days with the highest number of vehicles on the road and staying alert are extremely important strategies to staying safe while traveling. Other strategies for staying safe are:

Try to travel on days and at times that are not peak travel days and times. If most people will be traveling Wednesday through Sunday, try to travel Tuesday through Saturday. Strive to travel early in the day and at times when traffic volume is the lowest.
Plan your route around malls, big stores, airports, and major sporting venues to avoid the crowds and congestion.
Before a long drive, make sure you get plenty of sleep and have something to eat.
Take breaks every few hours, even if you’re not sleepy. Get out and walk around to stretch your legs. Play Frisbee or catch with the kids. Have a snack. It will keep you more alert.
Make sure your vehicle is in prime condition before the trip. Change the oil, if needed. Make sure the fluid levels and gas tank are full and that tires are properly inflated.
Share the driving. If you are alone, turn on the music and crack the window to help stay alert. You may want to use your foot on the gas pedal to control the speed and not the cruise control to keep yourself more vigilant.
Make sure everyone is buckled up.
Make sure the vehicle is stocked with a map or atlas, jumper cables, spare tire, wiper fluid, first aid kit, pillow, blanket, and snacks. Bringing snacks from home is usually healthier and cheaper than getting them from a vending machine.
If traveling with children, pack activities to entertain them such as movies, coloring books, toys, activity books, etc. Remember to stop for frequent breaks and to have some fun.
Start looking for a gas station when your gas gauge reads ¼ tank. Don’t wait until you are on empty to fill up. The next exit with a gas station may be quite a distance away.