Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this bipartisan legislation, H.R. 670, the Special Needs Trust Fairness and Medicaid Improvement Act. This legislation, which I have championed for multiple Congresses with my Republican colleague, Representative Glenn Thompson, would allow individuals with disabilities to set up special needs trusts for themselves without a court petition. I thank Representative Thompson of Pennsylvania for his continued leadership on this issue. A special needs trust is a special kind of trust that is designed to provide support for certain expenses for disabled individuals to supplement Medicaid benefits. Currently, these types of trusts generally must be established by parents, grandparents, legal guardians, or a court on behalf of the disabled individual. People can only set up a special needs trust for themselves after petitioning a court. Oftentimes, this process can take several months and can incur significant legal fees during the process. This is just not right. Individuals with disabilities can and should have the ability to set up a special needs trust for themselves, and this legislation fixes that basic inequity. This is a commonsense but very meaningful fix in the lives of those living with a disability. I would like to also note that H.R.…”