Federal Benefits Available to Those with Vision Loss
Posted on December 6, 2008
» Filed Under Eyes Vision |
For seniors who struggle to live on a monthly budget that includes rent/mortgage payments, grocery bills, and medical bills; including the increasing costs of pharmaceuticals; financial assistance for increased medical bills due to blindness can help keep their houses heated this winter, food on the table, and life-sustaining drugs available.
Common causes of blindness in people over 60 include age-related macular degeneration, a chronic eye disease associated with aging that gradually destroys the sharp, central vision; glaucoma, a condition in which the optic nerve is damaged; and cataracts, a clouding of the eye’s normally clear lens and the leader of the pack in causing blindness.
In cases of children and young adults, the main causes of blindness are retinopathy of prematurity, or ROP, a condition in premature babies when abnormal blood vessels and scar tissue grow over the retina; retinitis pigmentosa, or RP, a progressive disorder that results from the degeneration of the rods and cones in the retina; and brain trauma.
Legal blindness is defined as central vision acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with corrective glasses. That means a legally blind person can see at 20 feet what a person with normal vision can see at 200 feet.
Social Security Benefits
The blind can qualify for Social Security Disability Income, or SSDI, if they have worked and paid in the system.
SSDI is not needs-based, and the payment amount is based on a person’s age, how much and how long they paid into the system, said Andrew Hudson, public affairs specialist with Social Security.
For children, stay-at-home parents, or homemakers, to name a few, Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, was designed for those who have not held a job that paid into the federal system.
“SSI is needs-based,” said Hudson. “We’re going to look at a person’s income and resources or their assets.”
A blind person may be eligible for SSI, SSDI, or both. The payment cap for someone receiving both is $657 a month, though people who qualify for SSI also are eligible for programs to help with health-care, housing and other needs. A person who’s receiving SSDI has the potential to receive a higher monthly payment if he or she were employed for a long time.
Those who are afflicted and qualify for SSI and/or SSDI can still hold a job and receive a portion of their benefits. The new benefit amount is based on their earnings.
Those who are employed and find their income exceeds their SSI need not worry about losing Medicaid, according to Hudson. There is a law that protects a person’s Medicaid if SSI stops because of work until that person reaches $28,212 in wages. The threshold is modified under special circumstances.
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