Social Security (Retirement and Disability): .3% increase Medicare Part B Monthly Premium: $134 (or higher depending on your income) Supplemental Security Income (SSI): .3% increase Individual - $735, Couple - $1103, Essential Person - $368 Substantial Gainful Activity Guidelines: Blind - $1950, Non-blind - $1170 Trial Work Period Threshold: $840 For more information on [...]
REGISTER! EDUCATE! VOTE! REV UP! Montana Disability Vote Project There are many ways YOU can vote: 1. At your polling place 2. Absentee Ballot 3. AutoMark 4. Electronic Ballot 5. Designate an Agent Every polling place in Montana has at least one specialized voting machine, called an AutoMARK, that enables people with disabilities to [...]
Visitability is a national movement to build homes with three primary accessible design features. They are: 1. One zero step entrance on an accessible path of travel from the street, sidewalk or driveway 2. Doorways that provide 32 inches clear space throughout the home’s main floor and hallways that provide 36 inches of clear width [...]
REV UP! Register! Educate! Vote! Use your Power! 2016 is shaping up to be one of the most important election years ever. National, state and local election outcomes will impact our communities, and our lives, for years to come. So, what can you do? You can Rev Up! Register to vote, educate yourself on candidates [...]
Important Voting Days! June 7, 2016 - State Primary Election and Presidential Primary Election Day November 8, 2016 - Federal General Election Day For other important dates: elections.mytimetovote.com/dates/montana.html
Summit Independent Living Center has created a webpage to track updates to ABLE programs in Montana and throughout the United States. A recent rules change allows eligible people to create ABLE savings accounts anywhere in the country once states start activating those programs. To learn more about how ABLE accounts work, visit: www.summitilc.org/able.html
One of the largest worries hanging over the heads of many people with disabilities in 2015 was a looming 20 percent cut to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits if Congress didn’t act to increase its trust fund balance. Ultimately, a transfer from the larger, but even more financially shaky, Retirement Trust was approved and [...]
We don’ been had. The AbilityOne program is supposed to be the largest federal job placement program for people with disabilities. This multi-billion dollar program is instead being found to be harming people with disabilities. Its actions actually take jobs away from those people, place others in sheltered workshops, and provide cozy deals for contractors [...]
Recently, several Summit staff and board members traveled to Virginia to attend the National Conference on Rural Independent Living. One of the attendees, Wesley Schneider, posted several short live blog videos (vlogs) during the trip. We asked Wesley about his adventure. Here’s what he had to say. “The best part of my experience at APRIL [...]
When we think of marriage equality, we often think about the fight LGBT couples face, but another minority group must deal with the stark reality that they are often better off living alone or in long-term committed relationships, without marriage. These couples are denied more than 1,100 rights afforded to married couples. They have been [...]
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