Blind Disability

For the blind, there are many special benefits that they are legally entitled to as fully fledged citizens. These benefits help them when they are unemployed. There are also many laws and regulations that bar discrimination against individuals with any kind of disability, blindness included, which is not an impediment to the job they apply for.

The benefits that blind individuals are entitled to receive come under the Social Security programs. These are basically two programs; the Social Security Disability Insurance Program and the Supplemental Security Income program.

Disability benefits for blindness are subject to an individual being qualified as ‘legally blind'. What this means is that a person is legally blind if their vision cannot be corrected to better than 20/200 in the better eye, or if their visual field is 20 degrees or less in the better eye. While disability benefits related to blindness are subject to proving legal blindness, a person can get disability benefits even when there is no disease causing legal blindness. Vision impairments also constitute legal entitlement to disability benefits when the person is unemployed.

An individual is entitled for blindness disability benefits because while they work and pay taxes, they gain credits from Social Security for relief in the event that they become unemployed. If an individual doesn't have enough credits based on his or her own earning, they may still get disability benefits based on their parents or spouse's credits.

Disability Freeze:

There is a special rule that may help individuals get higher retirement or disability benefits some day. This rule can be used if the person is legally blind but are not getting disability benefits now because they are employed. If their earnings are lower because of their blindness, Social Security can exclude those years when calculating their Social Security retirement or disability benefit in the future. Because Social Security benefits are based on a person's average lifetime earnings, the benefit will be higher if the low income years are not counted. Social Security refers to this rule as a “disability freeze." If you as a legally blind person qualify for this rule or if you know if someone who does, you should contact Social Security.

Getting Social Security Benefits While Working:

It is also possible to work while still being eligible for Social Security benefits, these rules are collectively referred to as “work incentives." People getting Social Security disability benefits can continue to receive their benefits when they work as long as their earnings are not more than an amount set by law.

If a person is receiving Social Security disability benefits and is legally blind, he or she can earn as much as $1,570 a month in 2008. This is higher than the earnings limit of $940 a month that applies to disabled workers who are not blind. The earnings limits change each year, so you will have to check back with Social Security before you apply.

Further, if an individual is blind and self-employed, Social Security does not evaluate the time they spent working in their business as is the case for people who are not blind. This means a legally blind person can be doing a lot of work for his or her business, but still receive disability benefits, as long as their net profit averages $1,570 or less a month in 2008. Again, this figure is subject to change and you need to check back yearly.

All in all, Social Security benefits can help legally blind individuals to lead a financially stable life, the legal right of any tax paying citizen.

• Felicia Byrnes
• 29/12/2008, 4:59 PM
• 0 Comments