ABLE Accounts

Click here to find more information on the Kansas ABLE Program.

Kansas Able Act Passes

In 2015, the Kansas Legislature passed HB 2216 creating the Kansas ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) Savings Program to be administered by the Kansas State Treasurer’s office.

The ABLE Act allows people with disabilities to set up tax-free savings accounts for disability-related expenses. It also lets families of children with disabilities save for their long-term care needs. Doing this better enables independence and employment for people with disabilities, because dollars in an ABLE account will not impact a person’s eligibility for government benefits such as Social Security or Medicaid.

An ABLE account can fund a variety of essential disability expenses for individuals, including medical and dental care, education, community-based supports, employment training, assistive technology, housing, and transportation. The ABLE Act provides individuals with disabilities the same types of flexible savings tools that all other Americans have through college savings accounts, health savings accounts, and individual retirement accounts.

The federal ABLE Act became law when Congress passed and the President signed the act.  Although advocates had fought for this legislation for years, each state still has to pass companion language to make these accounts available to the residents of that state.  DRC Kansas used its private dollars to educate lawmakers about this important bill.