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H 7687Benefit Programs

Human Services - Public Assistance Act

This bill sets asset limits for public assistance and prevents the state from seizing disabled persons' ABLE savings accounts after death.

Held for study
Population
Affected
15
Email Legislator
Introduced Feb 11, 2026Committee House Finance

Plain-English Summary

This legislation amends the "Public Assistance Act" and the "Office of Health and Human Services" regarding financial eligibility and asset recovery. Section 1 outlines eligibility requirements for General Public Assistance (GPA), establishing specific asset limits, such as a vehicle equity value of $4,650 and a liquid asset limit of $400. Section 2 modifies the rules for ABLE accounts (savings accounts for individuals with disabilities). Specifically, it removes the provision that designated the state as a creditor to an ABLE account upon the beneficiary's death, thereby preventing the state from seizing these funds to cover state-incurred costs.

For younger readers

This bill changes rules about how the government helps people who have disabilities or very little money. First, it lists what a person can own, like a car or a small amount of cash, while still getting help from the state. Second, it helps people with disabilities who have special savings accounts called ABLE accounts. Before, if a person with an ABLE account died, the government could take the money left in the account to pay itself back for help it gave. This bill changes the rule so the government cannot take that money.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Individuals with disabilitiesGeneral Public Assistance applicantsABLE account holdersDepartment of Human ServicesEstate planners
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Eliminates the predatory "clawback" of funds from ABLE accounts, ensuring that the state does not profit from the death of individuals with disabilities by seizing their remaining assets.
  • Promotes economic justice by allowing families of disabled individuals to pass on intergenerational wealth and savings rather than having those assets stripped to repay social safety net costs.
  • Encourages financial independence for the disability community by securing their savings against state seizure, fostering a stronger sense of security and autonomy.
  • Maintains extremely low asset limits for General Public Assistance (such as $400 in cash), which traps recipients in poverty and prevents them from building any financial safety cushion.
  • Keeps the vehicle equity limit at $4,650, which may force low-income individuals to rely on older, unreliable vehicles that require costly repairs, hindering their ability to travel to work or medical appointments.
  • Continues to explicitly exclude undocumented immigrants from receiving General Public Assistance benefits, leaving a vulnerable population without necessary state support.
For Conservatives
  • Protects private property rights by preventing the government from seizing personal financial assets (ABLE accounts) from an estate upon the death of the owner.
  • Encourages private saving and personal responsibility by assuring individuals that the money they set aside for disability-related expenses will remain with their designated beneficiaries.
  • Maintains strict means-testing for General Public Assistance by keeping asset limits low ($400 cash), ensuring that state aid is reserved only for the most destitute.
  • Removes a mechanism for the state to recover taxpayer funds spent on Medicaid and public assistance, effectively shifting the financial burden permanently onto the taxpayer.
  • Allows heirs to inherit funds that could have been used to reimburse the state for the care provided to the deceased, prioritizing private inheritance over public debt repayment.
  • Could potentially incentivize increased enrollment in government benefit programs if individuals know their assets are shielded from state recovery efforts.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 4 additions · 3 deletions

SECTION 1. Section 40-6-3.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 40-6 entitled "Public Assistance Act" is hereby amended to read as follows: 40-6-3.1. Eligibility for general public assistance.

(a) The state, acting by and through the department, shall provide assistance (in the form specified in § 40-6-3.2) to residents of the state found by the department, in accordance with this chapter and rules and regulations of the department, to be eligible for general public assistance; provided further, that benefits under this program shall be provided only to residents who are citizens of the United States or aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence or otherwise permanently residing in the United States under color of law, and benefits shall not be provided to illegal or undocumented aliens.

(b) Individuals eligible for GPA.(1) General public assistance shall be provided to the following individuals and families provided all other eligibility requirements of this chapter are met: Individuals age eighteen (18) or older, provided that they do not have a dependent child who is living in his or her home, and provided that they are determined by the department, in accordance with this chapter and departmental regulations, to be suffering from an illness, injury, or medical condition as determined by physical examination by a licensed physician, that is reasonably expected to last for a period of at least thirty (30) days from the date the application for general public assistance is filed with the department and that precludes the individual from working. The illness, injury, or medical condition may be based on a primary diagnosis of alcoholism or substance abuse. The total physical or mental incapacity shall be verified by a medical practitioner and/or a qualified substance abuse counselor designated by the department, within forty-five (45) days of the date the individual is found by the department to be totally incapacitated. If total physical or mental incapacity cannot be reasonably verified, then the individual shall not be eligible for general public assistance under this subsection.

(2) The department shall provide an application for medical assistance (Medicaid) benefits to each applicant for general public assistance and shall use a uniform medical form for both programs to secure information from the applicant’s treating physician. A decision on the application for general public assistance shall be made within thirty (30) days of receipt of a completed application.

(3) Individuals found eligible on the basis of illness, injury, or medical condition under subsection (b) shall be eligible for assistance only in the forms specified in § 40-6-3.2(a)(2) and (a)(3), and only for an initial period of up to six (6) months, renewable for a period of up to an additional six (6) months. In order to receive assistance for a period greater than twelve (12) months, individuals must reapply for general public assistance.

(c) Resources. Ownership of real or personal property shall disqualify individuals from receiving general public assistance; provided, however, that the following property or resources owned by the individuals shall be exempted:

(1) A home occupied by the individuals;

(2) One motor vehicle having an equity value not exceeding four thousand six hundred fifty dollars ($4,650) or a vehicle necessary to transport a family member with a disability, where the vehicle is specially equipped to meet the specific needs of the person with a disability or if the vehicle is a special type of vehicle that makes it possible to transport the person with the disability;

(3) Cash or liquid assets not exceeding four hundred dollars ($400);

(4) Such tools of the trade not to exceed an aggregate value of one thousand dollars ($1,000) and household furnishings and effects as the director shall determine by regulation; and

(5) Individual retirement accounts.

(d) Income. (1)(i) Income shall not disqualify an individual from receiving general public assistance provided that the income, as defined and determined by the department, is within the income limitations established by the regulations of the department.

(ii) Pursuant to the purposes set forth in § 40-6-3 and notwithstanding the provisions of §  40-6-3.3 [Repealed], individuals found ineligible for cash assistance under chapter 5.1 of this title due to provisions of the chapter regarding alien sponsors, the deeming of alien sponsor income or the deeming of stepparent income, shall not be eligible for general public assistance.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of § 40-6-3.3 [Repealed], the receipt of lump-sum income shall disqualify an individual from receiving general public assistance.

(3) The department shall promulgate rules and regulations regarding the treatment of lump- sum income.

(e) Postsecondary education. (1) An individual age eighteen (18) or older, attending a school, college, or university as a full-time student or attending a full-time program of vocational or technical training, all beyond the level of secondary education, shall not be eligible for general public assistance under this chapter, excepting, however, those individuals active as students with the department’s vocational rehabilitation programs who have been certified as unemployable by the department.

(2) Notwithstanding the foregoing prohibition, an individual, age eighteen (18) or older, pursuing a course of study on a part-time basis beyond the level of secondary education, may be eligible for general public assistance, provided the student remains available for and is actively seeking employment, and provided that the individual meets all other eligibility requirements for general public assistance pursuant to this chapter.

(f) Cooperation in applying for SSI and medical assistance. All applicants and recipients of general public assistance shall, within thirty (30) days of application for general public assistance or notice from the department, be required to apply for and cooperate in the determination for benefits under the federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program and/or medical assistance, as provided pursuant to Title XIX of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1396 et seq., provided the applicant or recipient is determined by the department to be potentially eligible for benefits.

(g) Report of income or resources by recipients. If, at any time during the receipt of general public assistance, the recipient thereof becomes possessed of income or resources in excess of the amount previously reported by him or her, it shall be his or her duty and a condition of eligibility to notify the department of this fact immediately on the receipt or possession of additional income or resources.

SECTION 2. Section 42-7.2-20.8 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-7.2 entitled "Office of Health and Human Services" is hereby amended to read as follows: 42-7.2-20.8. Creditors. Notwithstanding any provision of the general or public laws to the contrary, money in the ABLE program shall be exempt from creditor process and shall not be liable to attachment, garnishment, or other process, nor shall it be seized, taken, appropriated, or applied by any legal or equitable process or operation of law to pay any debt or liability of any contributor or beneficiary; provided, however, that the state of residency of the designated beneficiary of an ABLE account shall be a creditor of such account in the event of the death of the designated beneficiary.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.