Legal professionals may take a FREE continuing legal education (CLE) session called Focus on ABLE Accounts: A Financial Tool Specifically for People with Disabilities. This session qualifies for 1.00 CLE credit in Pennsylvania.
Outreach Materials
PA ABLE’s outreach team can speak directly to your organization and the people you serve through:
- Live PA ABLE webinars
- In-person presentations
- Staff for your conference or event vendor table
Professionals supporting the disability community can help share information about PA ABLE with brochures, emails, social media, and more.
View All MaterialsAccount Resources
These additional sources of information about ABLE accounts may be helpful.
ABLE today is a national awareness and educational initiative aimed at advancing financial empowerment and community inclusion for people with disabilities through ABLE accounts. ABLE today supports a collaborative, national effort for expanding outreach for ABLE programs to the disability community and establishing partnerships to promote the positive impacts of ABLE accounts.
Visit ABLEtoday.org
ABLE National Resource Center (ABLE NRC) is the leading, comprehensive source of objective, independent information about federal- and state-related ABLE programs and activities, including guidance on tax-advantaged ABLE savings accounts.
Visit ABLE National Resource Center
The Social Security Administration (SSA) administers two disability-related programs, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). While SSDI and SSI have different work and financial rules in order to qualify, at the core, both benefits are intended to provide financial support to individuals who are disabled.
Visit Social Security Administration
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides information about federal tax treatment of 529A ABLE accounts.
Visit Internal Revenue Service
StudyMoney is a program of the Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation. StudyMoney provides people with disabilities and their families information to learn about managing money, including saving wisely, building credit, protecting against identity theft, and more.
Visit StudyMoney
Resources – Frequently Asked Questions
This depends on each person or family’s individual circumstances and the type of special needs trust. Factors to consider can include expenses associated with establishing each, tax benefits, limits on contributions or permitted uses, Medical Assistance (Medicaid) repayment claims and account control.
An additional consideration is that some special needs trust must be used for the “sole benefit” of the Beneficiary while there is no such restriction on the use of ABLE accounts. In addition, a person can have a special needs trust and an ABLE account. For additional details, you may wish to consult a tax or legal professional.
Under federal law, if the Beneficiary received Medical Assistance (Medicaid), the state that provided the Medical Assistance (Medicaid) is permitted to file a claim seeking repayment from the ABLE account in an amount up to the amount of Medical Assistance (Medicaid) provided during the time the beneficiary had an ABLE account. However, under Pennsylvania law, the Department of Human Services (DHS), the state agency responsible for administering Medical Assistance (Medicaid), may not file a claim against a PA ABLE account.
Once the assets in the PA ABLE account have been transferred to the estate, DHS may then seek repayment from the estate. In Pennsylvania, DHS may seek repayment from the estate of the deceased Account Owner only if the deceased was 55 or older and only for Medical Assistance (Medicaid) consisting of nursing facility services, home and community-based services, and related hospital and prescription drug services paid once the Account Owner turned 55. Repayment is postponed if the deceased has a surviving spouse, child under 21, or disabled child of any age.
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