Does Being Legally Blind Qualify For Disability

Your vision loss must be quite significant and if you have good vision in one eye you won t qualify for disability benefits.

Does being legally blind qualify for disability.

The social security administration ssa offers two programs that people who are legally blind or visually impaired may qualify for. We consider you to be blind if your vision can t be corrected to better than 20 200 in your better eye or if your visual field is 20 degrees or less in your better eye for a period that lasted or is expected to last at least 12 months. Supplemental security income ssi. How to apply for disability benefits for blindness around 1 3 million us residents are currently declared legally blind.

This diagnosis refers to those who experience less than 20 200 vision in their better eye or have a visual field of 20 degrees or less. Legal blindness automatically qualifies you for disability benefits but the social security administration ssa does not have such a clear cut definition of when partially blind applicants are eligible. The ssd department compromises two programs that people who are legally blind may qualify for social security disability insurance ssdi or supplemental security income ssi. Being legally blind affects just about everything a person does from day to day.

If you are partially legally or totally blind you may be able to qualify for social security disability benefits through the social security administration ssa. Social security disability insurance ssdi. The ssa details how significant your vision loss must be for it to qualify as a disability. If you do not meet the legal definition of blindness you may still qualify for disability benefits if your vision problems alone or combined with other health problems prevent you from working.

For these reasons the social security administration ssa disability program provides monthly benefit assistance for legally blind persons who qualify. Ssa s listings is a list of conditions that have been deemed so severe that if you suffer from them you will automatically be found disabled. Blind applicants can work and earn up to 1 820 per month and still qualify for disability benefits. The ssdi program pays benefits to person and certain members of the family if the person has worked long enough and paid social security taxes.

There are a number of special rules for people who are blind that recognize the severe impact of blindness on a person s ability to work. And if the blindness occurred recently many normal activities may become difficult if not impossible. The ssdi program pays benefits to you and certain members of your family if you have worked long enough and paid social security taxes. More often than not when someone who is legally blind applies for disability benefits they will be found disabled based upon one of social security s listing s.