The Social Security Administration (SSA) has two programs that pay blindness disability benefits. Qualifying for benefits through the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs is a long and complicated process that denies benefits to more than two-thirds of the people who submit their applications.
Instead of taking on the SSA on your own, rely on a blindness disability benefits lawyer at Disability Partners, PLLC, to get you through the application process and, if necessary, the disability appeal process. A disability lawyer gives you access to years of experience and unsurpassed knowledge and familiarity of the laws, regulations, and procedures to give you the best opportunity to receive the blindness disability benefits you need and deserve.
The SSI program pays benefits to adults and children who are blind according to the definition of blindness used by the SSA. A person is blind and eligible for benefits when testing by an ophthalmologist shows one of the following:
The same blindness definition is used in the SSDI program to evaluate an application for disability benefits. If you have a visual impairment that does not meet the specific requirements for blindness disability, you still may qualify for blindness disability benefits through SSI and SSDI.
Impaired vision that does not meet the SSA definition to qualify for blindness disability benefits may qualify for disability benefits through SSDI and SSI provided it causes you to be disabled and unable to work. Social Security defines a disability as a medically determinable medical or mental health impairment that prevents you from engaging in substantial gainful activity. The impairment must last or be expected to last for at least one year or be expected to result in death.
A residual functional capacity (RFC) assessment completed by your ophthalmologist or, in some cases, by one chosen by the SSA, measures the extent to which your vision impairment limits your ability to perform work-related tasks. The RFC is used to determine whether you can do work that you’ve done in the past.
If your RFC shows that you cannot do past work, Social Security looks at it to determine whether it prevents you from adjusting to other types of work that may be available to you. When looking at your ability to make the adjustment to other types of work, consideration is given to your age, education, training, acquired work experience, and employment history along with your RFC assessment in determining whether you are disabled within the definition used by the SSA.
Disability Partners, PLLC, has built a reputation as the premier disability law firm in Minnesota. When impaired vision or blindness disability prevents you from working, our blindness disability benefits lawyer can help with the application and disability appeal for your claim for SSI and SSDI benefits. Contact us today for a free consultation and claim evaluation.