Disability Issues

In striking down a key part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the Supreme Court has made it easier for same-sex married couples to access certain types of disability benefits. However, the ruling is not all good...

Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) introduced the Special Needs Trust Fairness Act of 2013, a bill that would allow people with disabilities to create first-party special needs trusts to hold their assets without interfering with their access to Supplemental Security Income...

A 29-year-old Virginia woman with Down syndrome is fighting her mother's attempt to obtain guardianship in a case that has drawn attention to the tenuous balance between laws that seek to protect people with special needs while affording them maximum...

A bill that would allow retired military service members to name special needs trusts as beneficiaries of their Survivor Benefit Plans has been reintroduced in Congress.

A new bill introduced for the third straight session of Congress hopes to phase out the two year waiting period before SSDI beneficiaries receive Medicare.

A bill that would create tax-deferred savings accounts for people with special needs has been introduced in the House and Senate.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) recently introduced the Community Choice Act in both houses of Congress. If passed, the bill would greatly expand community services and in-home care for people with special needs who qualify...

Senator Tom Harkin has introduced two bills that would mandate captioning and audio descriptions in movie theaters and on planes, while advocates push for greater accessibility on the web.

"Scoop Essentials: The Dollars And Cents Of Disability", an article published on the Disability Scoop Website features an interview with ASNP Co-Founder, Diedre D. Wachbrit.