LNP Online: PA ABLE surpasses $100 million savings milestone; state treasurer celebrates at VisionCorps in Lancaster

LNP|Lancaster Online

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By ENELLY BETANCOURT | La Voz Editor and Staff Writer
Jan 30, 2024

Pennsylvania’s PA ABLE Savings Program has surpassed $100 million in assets, a milestone that brought state Treasurer Stacy Garrity to VisionCorps in downtown Lancaster to mark the occasion.

“We are proud of our employees who are blind and vision impaired and their interest in working every day to lead independent lives,” VisionCorps President and CEO Dennis Steiner said Tuesday during Garrity’s visit to the nonprofit at 244 N. Queen St. “PA ABLE is another opportunity to give our employees and any individuals with disabilities the chance to save and invest for their future.”

PA ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience Act) accounts help people with disabilities build financial security and increase independence by allowing them to save money with tax-free savings accounts to cover qualified disability expenses without affecting their government benefits. Garrity manages the program.

VisionCorps assists individuals with vision loss to learn to live independently and employs people who are visually impaired in manufacturing, food processing, and administrative services. Garrity toured VisionCorps’ manufacturing area where helmet pad sets for the U.S. military, specifically the Army and Marines, are produced.

Garrity said the PA ABLE program is the largest of the 19-state National ABLE Alliance, accounting for 25% of the alliance’s assets.

“Since it was enacted, the PA ABLE program has grown to more than 8,400 accounts and currently has over $110 million in assets,” Garrity said. As of December, there were 431 registered PA ABLE accounts in Lancaster County totaling $5,003,428.

To be eligible for PA ABLE, a person must have a qualifying disability that started prior to their 26th birthday. The 2022 ABLE Age Adjustment Act, however, will increase the age eligibility requirement from 26 to 46 effective January 2026.

“That means that 6 million more Americans will have access and be eligible for ABLE, including 1 million veterans. And as a veteran myself I know that for a lot of veterans their disability occurs after the age of 26 while serving and protecting our freedom, so I’m really proud about that,” said Garrity, a retired U.S. Army Reserve colonel.

More information about eligibility and how to open a PA ABLE account is available by visiting paable.gov, emailing info@paable.gov or calling 855-529-2253.

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