VOA常速英语:ABLE Accounts Offer Financial Independence for People with Disabilities(翻译)

Like most teenage boys, Ethan Pedlikin likes sports and computers.But because he has Down syndrome, he faces a barrier that many of his friends most likely never will.

He was born with disability, and has to face some barriers, important barriers to access to healthy services.

One billion people worldwide live with some form of disability. Of those billion, just half can afford adequate healthcare.And those in the U.S. who need government assistance like Medicaidcan‘t have more than 2000 dollars at their bank account to remain eligible.

I was told explicitly I needed to get rid of the $900 above $2,000 sitting in my son’s account, the absurdity of that is obvious.

So Ethan’s father Phil Pedlikin and four other parents decided to take action by building on an idea proposed by one of them.

He said, I have two daughters, one who has Down syndrome and one who does not.And the one who does not have Down syndrome I can save all the money in the world for her. But for my daughter with Down syndrome,I can’t because of medicate social security regulations and that’s backwards. And we should do something about it.

So for eight years, the parents came here to Capital Hill to get congressional support.Their bill will allow people with disabilities to set aside money and a savings account for their living expenses.But to their surprise, bipartisan support came easy.

There were several times when other members of congress looked into this we were gettingand said I’ve never seen a bill that has that combination of people.

ABLE accounts became law in 2014. The accounts allow people with disabilities to set aside extra money for housing,health, transportation and other necessary expenses without losing eligibility for government assistance.Pedlikin says this is a savings opportunity everyone should take advantage of.

People who don’t have a lot of money need to still figure out how to put something away and let it compound and grow. Because it will.

Health officials say this will help people with disabilities better participate in the economy.

You not include the people with disabilities in the general development of the country, you are excluding an important sector of the population.

A newfound independence can help people like Ethan achieve a better life experience.