[Ct-nfb] Fwd: I'm not allowed to save money

Sun Feb 16 19:10:15 UTC 2014

Justin,

This is indeed an interesting bill--I just googled it.  It creates something
different than PASS: the goal with PASS is that it's, well, a plan to
achieve self-support through gainful work which (as I calculate it) would
need to be above the minimum wage even for full-time work.  The sort of
accounts that would be set up would be for, I presume, people who would not
be able to ever be so gainfully employed and would always be receiving S.S.I
and always subject to that $2,000 resource limit.  In fact, after I
graduated from college and started working as an engineer for the State of
California my entry-level salary made me still eligible for S.S.I.; I became
ineligible first because I was able to put money into savings and went over
$2,000--ultimately and in the end a very good thing.

For persons needing S.S.I. who, for any number of reasons, are likely to 
never be self-supporting, these plans sound like a very good idea.  I think 
of an example that Chris Khuel gave once of a family friend who was only 
making pennies an hour but couldn't even conceive of money--a shame he was 
made to find "fulfillment" doing menial tasks instead of having likely far 
better enriching experiences, but that's another matter about which we're 
passionate...  Or a deacon from my parish, who has also supported us with a 
very nice letter to Rosa DeLauro, who has a 22-year old daughter who 
receives S.S.I. and, again, will likely never work full-time above the 
minimum wage.  These accounts will allow their families to provide for them 
in the long term without forcing them into poverty or ridiculous spending 
sprees to bring down their resources to $2,000 and get Medicaid again.

This is likely a bill on which the NFB will not take a position because it 
deals with different disability subject matter than is our mission, but I 
think many of us will have our own personal opinions.

Enjoy your weekend,
Nathanael

-----Original Message----- 
From: Justin Salisbury
Sent: Saturday, February 15, 2014 7:40 PM
To: NFB of Connecticut Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Ct-nfb] Fwd: I'm not allowed to save money

I think this is a very interesting petition. I wish to ask the following
question:

I know that there is a program called PASS (plan for achieving
self-support), which allows people to save beyond $2000 without it hurting
their benefits. Would this bill, if passed, create something new and better
then PASS?

Sent from the iPhone of:

Justin M. Salisbury
Graduate Student
Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics
University of Wisconsin – Madison
@_JSalisbury

> On Feb 15, 2014, at 5:24 PM, "Danielle Spruill" <dspruill87 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Sara Wolff via Change.org" <mail at change.org>
> Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2014 21:37:36 +0000
> Subject: I'm not allowed to save money
> To: dspruill87 at gmail.com
>
> I'm 31 years old, and I happen to have Down syndrome. I have two jobs,
> and lead an independent life, however, when my mom died suddenly last
> year, things got a lot harder for me and my family. I want to support
> myself and save money for my future, but if I save more than $2,000,
> I'll lose the benefits I depend on like Medicaid and Social Security.
>
> That's because of a law that says that people with disabilities like
> me can't have more than $2,000 in assets or we risk losing the
> benefits we need to live. For me, living on my own, that means I can't
> even save enough to put down rent and a security deposit on an
> apartment. This law keeps me dependent on other people, and that's
> really scary now that my mom is gone.
>
> But there is a solution: The ABLE Act. The Achieving a Better Life
> Experience Act is a bill in Congress that would allow people like me
> to save money for our futures through 529-like accounts that wouldn't
> impact our medical care and disability benefits.
>
> I started a petition on Change.org calling on Congress to pass the
> ABLE Act this year. Will you click here to sign it?
>
> https://www.change.org/petitions/the-united-states-congress-pass-the-able-act?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=48777&alert_id=TjLvAdIqOY_dFXddYqxCK
>
> It's very scary for me to be on my own knowing I'm not allowed to save
> money in case something goes wrong. I've worked so hard to build a
> life for myself, living on my own and working as a law clerk. It's
> horrible to think I could lose everything because I have no security.
> I dream of living on my own, working one, full-time job, and even
> taking postsecondary courses to earn a degree.
>
> With an ABLE account, I would not only have security, I could also
> plan for my future. This bill will not only change my life but has the
> potential to change the lives of millions of people with and without
> disabilities.
>
> Some people think my disability holds me back, but they're wrong. I've
> learned that I can be independent, even without my mom, as hard as
> that is. I can hold down a job, and even speak at rallies in
> Washington, DC. I just need to be allowed to make my own way and plan
> for my better life. Will you help me make that possible?
>
> Please click here to sign my petition calling on Congress to pass the
> ABLE Act so that people like me can plan for our futures.
>
> https://www.change.org/petitions/the-united-states-congress-pass-the-able-act?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=48777&alert_id=TjLvAdIqOY_dFXddYqxCK
>
> When this bill passes, I'll be standing next to President Obama when
> he signs it. And I'll thank you for making that moment happen.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Sara Wolff
> Moscow, PA
>
>
> This email was sent by Change.org to dspruill87 at gmail.com.
>
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