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Blind Disability Benefits

How can you get Disability Benefits with Vision Loss?

According to the National Health Interview Survey, there were 23.7 million Americans aged 18 years or more who had vision loss in 2015. People with a visual acuity of 20/200 are considered blind and may apply for disability benefits.  

By the SSA, a legal or statutory blindness is defined as total blindness. Legally blind individuals are those who have been blind since birth. This might include anybody who has lost their eyesight owing to unusual circumstances. Traumatic brain injury (TBI), retinopathy, glaucoma, and other disorders can cause vision loss. To qualify for disability for blindness under the SSA’s rules, you must fulfil all of the program’s requirements.

There are two programs that you can apply for the benefits:

The following are some of the qualifications that you must fulfill in order to be eligible for these two programs:

  • An individual is considered blind if the visual field is either 20 degrees or less in the better eye. This condition must have prevailed for a tenure of 12 months. This duration is only required for the SSDI program and not for the SSI program.
  • Your vision cannot be corrected to more than 20/200 in the better eye.

How to get Disability Benefits if you are not completely blind?

Consider that if a person does not fulfill the criteria for blindness, they may still get benefits for the blind. This is feasible if your vision problems are accompanied by another health condition. You may be eligible to obtain the benefits if your health is suffering as a result of these issues.

You must meet certain criteria to be eligible for the SSDI program. You must have worked for a long time and paid your social security taxes on time. To be eligible for blind benefits under the SSI program, you don’t need to have worked previously. Your income, on the other hand, must fall below a certain level as determined by the SSA.

Can you claim Disability for being Blind in one eye?

One of the most fundamental factors that need to be taken into consideration is your medical records. In vision loss situations, the SSA evaluates two test results:

  • In the better eye, 
  • With the best correction.

This is for those who are blind in one eye or have one eye missing. These people will not qualify for disability benefits, unless SSA decides that single eye blindness has a significant impact on your life. If your other eye’s vision is fine then you will not be able to qualify for the social security disability.

However, there are certain exceptions. People whose work depends largely on their eyesight, such as firefighters or pilots, will not be granted any benefits if their vision can be improved by using glasses. However, people with severe and extreme vision impairment may be granted Blind Disability Benefits.

What is the Disability Freeze Special Rule?

Disability for BlindnessThe SSA has a unique rule known as the “Disability Freeze.” This rule is intended to assist individuals approaching retirement age who have not earned enough work credits to qualify for Social Security retirement benefits in qualifying for greater benefits. It can aid you in qualifying for additional disability compensation, as well as Social Security retirement benefits. When the social security retirement or Disability Benefits for Blindness calculations are made, the years before may be disregarded by SSA.

This is due to the fact that your lifetime earnings are used to calculate your social security disability payments, and the benefits will increase if those years aren’t taken into account. The Disability Freeze is a regulatory rule that restricts how much money you may receive from Social Security each year. If you want further information on this regulation, consider consulting an SSD attorney.

Special services that are provided by SSA to people who are blind.

The SSA offers several services for blind individuals or those with low vision. If you are pursuing disability benefits for blindness, the SSA will send you notices as well. You may select whether you want the SSA notices to be delivered in a specific method under a separate provision.

You can select from a variety of delivery methods, including first-class mail, certified mail service, a phone call following first-class mail, braille notice, and several others. These formats are offered to make it easy for blind people to obtain all of their SSA information.

Rules for people who are blind or over the age of 55.

For persons who are older than 55 years old and blind, SSA applies various criteria to determine their employment. These are somewhat different from the ones for individuals who aren’t blind. If someone is of age 55 and makes more than $2,260 each month in 2022, his or her benefits will be suspended. Benefits are not, however, cancelled. The salary caps may vary from year to year.

If an individual’s earnings fall below $2,260 in any one month, the SSA will begin paying benefits. This is the SGA work threshold set by the SSA, which serves as a limit on how much productive activity may be done. To learn more about disability benefit programs such As SSI and SSDI, you should contact a qualified Disability Attorneys In Michigan.

A lawyer can help you understand the application and appeals process, as well as ensure that you are meeting all of the deadlines. It is important to have legal representation when seeking any kind of government benefits, especially those related to blindness or disability. 

The SSA has a lot of experience handling these types of claims, and you will want to make sure that you are putting your best foot forward.

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