Public Benefits

After two years of almost complete inaction, the current U.S. Congress is considering several bills benefiting people with special needs.

A new law just passed by Congress and signed by President Obama will allow people with disabilities who became disabled before they turned 26 to set aside up to $14,000 a year in tax-free savings accounts without affecting their eligibility...

In one of its first acts of the new Congress, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives changed its rules to prevent lawmakers from shifting money from the Social Security retirement trust fund to the Social Security disability trust fund unless the...

Many people with special needs choose to live in group homes or supportive housing with other people with special needs.

You may not realize that owning an RV could impact your government benefits, especially Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid.

A recent Massachusetts case illustrates why trustees of special needs trusts have to be very careful before making distributions for people receiving public benefits.

Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) both allow working beneficiaries to deduct certain work-related expenses from their countable income, making it easier to qualify for benefits or, in the case of SSI, to receive a larger...

After only 100 days of deliberations, the National Commission on Long-Term Care has released its recommendations for improving long-term care for people with disabilities and seniors but failed to include virtually any comprehensive suggestions for revising the nation's long-term care...

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...