Legislation signed by Governor McAuliffe creates what he says is the first state that establishes a trust account for certain people with disabilities.
According to McAuliffe, in Virginia alone, nearly 16,000 public school students have been diagnosed with autism. They are some of the beneficiaries of the new law, which aims to help individuals who were disabled or blind prior to the age of 26. The governor says it will help lighten the financial load associated with paying for housing, transportation, education, and medical expenses. He says the law is modeled after the 529 college savings plan and allows families to contribute up to $14,000 a year toward the savings account.
"In addition to being tax exempt, these new saving accounts are an important resource because they will not--this is very important--they will not endanger an individual's eligibility for Medicaid health insurance or supplemental security income benefits."
The ABLE savings trust accounts will be administered by the Virginia College Savings Plan. McAuliffe says 30 other states are working to create similar measures, but Virginia is actually the first to establish a program.