Disability Issues

An Indiana-based pooled special needs trust has been accused of passing along some $2.4 million in legal fees to the trust beneficiaries without explaining what the fees were actually used for.

A new six-episode reality TV series follows seven people with Down syndrome and their families as they go about their daily lives.

After coming under fire from disability rights organizations and financial institutions for issuing unworkable proposed regulations governing ABLE accounts, the IRS has backed off on several of its most unwieldy proposals.

The budget deal signed by President Obama increases funding for the Social Security disability trust fund but also makes several small but important changes to the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program.

The Senate has unanimously approved the Special Needs Trust Fairness Act, a bill that would allow people with disabilities to create their own first-party special needs trusts without having to rely on others.

Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) recently introduced legislation that would fund pilot programs for treating mental illness, encourage collaboration between federal agencies dealing with mental health issues and strengthen enforcement of mental health parity rules. ...

At the same time that Disability.gov is becoming more accessible, the Federal Communications Commission is making communicating with the federal government easier for people who use American Sign Language .  ...

Special Needs Answers member attorney Kimberly Harris has won the State Bar of Georgia’s annual fiction writing contest.

The Special Needs Trust Fairness Act, federal legislation that would allow people with disabilities to create their own special needs trusts instead of having to rely on others, has cleared a key Senate hurdle.  ...