There are many things that people in Georgia take for granted in life. One of those things is their health and ability to do certain things with their body. However, when people are hurt or ill, they may not be able to do everything they were used to being able to do, and they may realize for the first time how importance of certain body parts. This is especially true if people lose their eyesight. Being able to see is important, and blindness can significantly affect people’s lives.
This includes their ability to work. People who are blind can receive Social Security Disability (SSDI) benefits like others with injuries and illnesses that prevent them from working, however, there are some special rules for people who are blind or have very low vision. Blindness for SSDI purposes is defined as vision that cannot be corrected to better than 20/200 or only having a field of vision of 20 degrees and the blindness will last for more than 12 months.
The special rules include that people who are blind can earn more money through work incentives than others and still receive SSDI benefits. People who are blind can earn as much as $2,040 a month as opposed to the limit of $1,220 for people who are disabled, but not blind. Also, for people who are blind and self-employed, they do not evaluate time spent working on the business in the same way as people who are not blind. The only rule is that they must have less than $2,040 a month in net profits. The rules are also different when evaluating people over the age of 55.
People who are blind in Georgia have a unique set of hardships that many others who do not have to endure. Therefore, there are special rules for people who are blind when they are applying for and receiving SSDI benefits. People who are blind still need to go through the application process though, and the evaluation process for determining whether they qualify for the special benefits.