The House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved legislation on Thursday led by U.S. Rep. Glenn “G.T.” Thompson (R-PA) to help individuals with disabilities gain financial stability.
The Special Needs Trusts Fairness Act, H.R. 670, would eliminate legal barriers that can prevent those with disabilities from establishing special needs trusts that can help them gain financial independence.
“I am pleased that the Energy and Commerce Committee took an important step toward correcting a legal inequity,” Thompson said. “This is a fundamental issue of equal protection under the law. We must safeguard the right of Americans living with disabilities to secure their future financial stability.”
Individuals with disabilities must have a legal guardian or court establish a special needs trust on their behalf under current law — even if they have the capacity to do so independently. That leads to additional legal fees and wait periods to create trusts, which delays or prevents them from accessing tools to help offset daily living and care expenses that government benefits aren’t able to cover.
“Mr. Thompson is to be commended for the masterful way he has lined up bipartisan support for this important law to benefit persons with disabilities,” Amos Goodall, a public policy advocate for the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys, said. “It is an example of his concern for persons who are less fortunate that has been the cornerstone of his activities throughout his career.”
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said that passage of the Special Needs Trusts Fairness Act builds upon the committee’s record of bipartisan success to improve public health.