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Leahy Life Planning
The Roadmap to the Future
It’s achievable! Long Term Disability Planning helps parents, care providers, and the person with special needs set reasonable, attainable goals for the future. We assess your disability plan options regarding living arrangements, finding a job with or without supports, navigating the federal and state services.
Contact Us Today
What is Disability Life Planning?
It’s about setting reasonable attainable goals for the future. We specialize in aligning with other professionals such as financial advisors, special needs estate attorneys, special education professionals, and governmental and community agencies to maximize the disability benefits and quality of life available to you and establish the best long-term plan.
Leahy Life Planning Services
Federal Benefits
- Review past and current disability documentation
- Review individual’s assets and resources
- Describe Supplemental Security Income (SSI) / Medicaid & Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) / Medicare
- Assess federal benefits (SSI/SSDI/Medicaid/Medicare) eligibility
- Consult and guide regarding required and supplemental documents needed for various federal benefit programs eligibility
- Prepare individual and caregiver for federal benefits interview
- Provide understanding on the different levels of benefits and their maximum values
- Working and receiving SSA benefits
State Benefits
- Explain what Waivers are, and the different Waiver options available
- Review the applicability of state benefits and Medicaid eligibility
- Explain how to be eligible for Waivers through Medicaid
- Guide you through the process of obtaining Waivers
- Assessing and advocacy services regarding Individualized Support Plan (ISP)
- Assistance with Medicaid spend-downs
- Discuss housing options
- Implement Person-Centered Planning into ISP goals
- Maintaining employment while utilizing waivers
Financial & Community Planning
- Encompasses Waiver and SSA Packages
- Discuss strategies on long term future planning
- Help you understand the purpose of Special Needs Trusts and ABLE accounts
- Review strategies on best ways to fund a Special Needs Trust
- Assess individual’s current and potential assets
- Discuss differences and intertwining of federal, county and state-based benefits
- Explain Power of Attorney vs. Guardianship
- Give meaningful referrals to other services/agencies/professionals
- Preparation for Person-Centered Planning and Microboarding
Complimentary Webinars
- SSI/SSDI Eligibility
- Power of Attorney vs. Guardianship
- Working and benefits (Medical Assistance, Waivers, Federal Cash) eligibility
- Special Needs Trusts and Guaranteed Funding Streams
- Blending state and federal funding programs
- Medicaid and Medicare differences
- Planning for different life phases
- Understanding the ABLE Act
Business to Business
Individuals with disabilities have a great deal to offer to the workplace, but many employers are overwhelmed by the various factors that surround hiring an individual with disabilities. What is and is not within the bounds of reasonable accommodations? How can the employer ensure that disabled individuals are supported by those around them? While working with families of disabled children looking to join the workforce, Michele Leahy saw the need to help employers better serve their employees with disabilities.
As a result, Leahy Life Plan is now offering a wide array of disability planning services to employers, including support to accommodate and retain employees with disabilities, sensitivity training, review and editing of HR policies, and navigating the workplace and government benefits. In addition, we will work with employees with a disability and caregivers to bridge the divide between employer and employee. It is important for employees to understand the impacts that work can have on their lives, for example how employer sponsor benefits like a 401k and pensions can impact government benefits. Leahy Life Plan blends and braids support and services to best serve the workplace.
Help for the Sibling Caregiver
Have you been left responsible to care for a disabled sibling? Have you found the process of navigating government and community supports
overwhelming? What do you want life to look like for your disabled
sibling in 5, 15, or 20 years? How can you best juggle the responsibilities of your own family as well as making sure your sibling is living a fulfilling life? Leahy Life Plan can aid families in identifying what benefits and programs their loved one is eligible for as well as offering them assitance in applying for and receiving it. Rather than leaving it to chance, Leahy Life Plan sets a plan in motion that accounts for the long term, blending and braiding community and government supports that best help the individual with a disability live their most fulfilling life.
Falling Off the Disability Cliff
You’ve dedicated hours of your life to evaluations, therapy sessions, and IEP meetings to help your loved one with a disability succeed. The school services are coming to an end, and you will no longer be writing IEP mission statements at the beginning of every school year. What do you want life to look like for your loved one with a disability in 10 or 20 years? What about after you’re gone? What government services and programs are available to your loved one with a disability, and how can you connect them to both your goals as a family as well as the goals of your loved one with a disability?
Do you know what benefits your person with a disability is entitled to versus what they are eligible for? Do you know the difference between SSI, SSDI, Medicaid, and Medicare? Have you started planning financially for how your loved one will live when you can longer provide for them financially? Is it possible to find your loved one work without compromising their much needed government benefits?
Our Team
Michele A. Leahy
MS, CPWIC
Founder
BIO
Michele Boardman
MA, CPWIC
Director of Benefits
BIO
James Duncan
Administrative Coordinator
BIO
Susan Giacoponello
16:33 20 Jan 26
Michele is a true expert on disability services. She and her staff provided invaluable insight and expertise in a caring and compassionate way. Highly recommend!
Jessi Cope
16:32 19 Aug 25
Michele is an absolute godsend. Her knowledge of programs and resources to help those of us with disabilities navigate a world that is already difficult without a disability is astounding. I highly recommend reaching out to her.
Rachel
23:34 10 Aug 25
We needed experienced experts to diagnose and report on my daughter’s condition. Ms.Leahy was able to help us with exactly the right professionals. Would go to her again in a heartbeat.
Judy Belaires
19:52 07 Jul 25
Michele Leahy is very knowledgeable in regards to benefits available to those with disabilities. Our situation was a bit complicated. Michele helped us work through the facts so that we were able to make good decisions. We really appreciated knowing exactly what was available to us in order to assist our brother. She is a valuable resource for those who are looking for direction in the world of disability benefits for themselves or for their loved ones.
Eileen Nester
23:46 23 Apr 25
Michele and her team are exceptional. Michele has been absolutely pivotal in guiding us through the often-overwhelming complexities of “the systems” as we advocate for our autistic son. She brings a rare and powerful blend of deep expertise, genuine empathy, and relentless passion to her work—qualities that make her not only an exceptional advocate but truly a force of nature.
Jill Baren
21:45 14 Apr 25
Leahy Life Plan is a critical service to assist families in advocating and securing the necessary resources for their loved ones. We had a top notch experience with Michele and her staff. They guided us with their expertise and were supportive and caring. Along the way I spoke with other professionals who said that no one knows this business like Michele. That is what we found to be the case and we were successful by following her instructions and working with her and her team step by step. Michele's approach and knowledge are worth every penny. Our son and our entire family are in a much better position because of the planning we did with her.
elizabeth aguilera
15:28 20 Mar 25
Michele Leahy of Leahy Life Plan is an absolute expert in disability life planning. After my son's disability application was repeatedly denied, Michele’s insight helped us take a new approach—emphasizing the importance of a thorough neuropsychological evaluation. Her guidance has been invaluable in securing the benefits and support my son truly needs. She brings a refreshing, no-nonsense perspective, helping parents recognize hidden challenges that may be overlooked. I’m incredibly grateful for her expertise and highly recommend her to anyone navigating disability planning!
