Social Security Benefits For Partial Blindness
How you qualify for social security disability benefits.
Social security benefits for partial blindness. To qualify for disability benefits with partial eyesight. The social security administration ssa offers two programs that people who are legally blind or visually impaired may qualify for. Use the following tips to improve your chances of receiving an approval for social security disability ssd. Make sure your low vision meets the ssa s guidelines.
To meet social security s listing for loss of visual acuity the vision in your better eye must be 20 200 or worse. For ssi payments based on disability and blindness you need not have worked but your income and resources must be under certain dollar limits. The ssdi program pays benefits to you and certain members of your family if you have worked long enough and paid social security taxes. Social security disability benefits you must also have worked long enough in a job where you paid social security taxes.
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. Low vision also called partial sight or limited sight is an impaired level of visual functioning that cannot be completely corrected by the application of conventional glasses contacts or surgery. Specifically if the better eye is cannot see better than 20 200 even when it is corrected with a corrective lens then you would be considered legally blind and you could qualify for social security disability benefits. Social security disability insurance ssdi.
Vision that s 20 200 is called legal blindness or statutory blindness even though it s only partial blindness.