Social Security: 10052

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I You Are Blind Or HaveLow Vision—How We Can Help

2008



Contact Social Security

Visit our website

Our website, www.socialsecurity.gov , is a valuableresource or inormation about all o Social Security’sprograms. At our website you also can:

Apply or certain kind o benefts;•

Get the address o your local Social Security ofce;•

Request a• Social Security Statement, a replacementMedicare card; and

Find copies o our publications.•

Call our toll-free numberIn addition to using our website, you also can

call us toll-ree at 1-800-772-1213. We can answerspecifc questions rom 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Mondaythrough Friday. We can provide inormation by

automated phone service 24 hours a day. I youare dea or hard o hearing, you may call our TTYnumber, 1-800-325-0778.

We treat all calls confdentially. We also wantto make sure you receive accurate and courteousservice. That is why we have a second Social Securityrepresentative monitor some telephone calls.



What’s inside

I you are blind 4

You can work whilereceiving benefts 6

Special services or

people who are blind 8



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I you are blind

I you are blind, we have special rules thatallow you to receive benefts when you are

unable to work.We pay benefts to people who are blind

under two programs: the Social Securitydisability insurance program and theSupplemental Security Income (SSI) program.The medical rules we use to decide whether

you are blind are the same or each program.Other rules are dierent. We explain thedierent rules or each program below.

You can get disability beneftsi you are “legally blind”

You may qualiy or Social Security or SSIdisability benefts i you are considered “legallyblind.” We consider you to be legally blind iyour vision cannot be corrected to better than20/200 in your better eye, or i your visual feldis 20 degrees or less in your better eye.

You can get disability beneftseven i you are not legally blind

I your vision does not meet the legaldefnition o blindness, you may still qualiyor disability benefts i your vision problems

alone or combined with other health problemsprevent you rom working. For Social Securitydisability benefts, you also must have workedlong enough in a job where you paid Social



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Security taxes. For SSI payments based ondisability and blindness, you need not haveworked, but your income and resources must

be under certain dollar limits.

How you qualiy or Social Securitydisability benefts

When you work and pay Social Securitytaxes, you earn credits that count toward

uture Social Security benefts.I you are legally blind, you can earn creditsanytime during your working years. Credits oryour work ater you become blind can be usedto qualiy you or benefts i you do not haveenough credits at the time you become blind.

Also, i you do not have enough credits toget Social Security disability benefts basedon your own earnings, you may be able to getbenefts based on the earnings o one o yourparents or your spouse.

For more inormation about Social Security

disability benefts, contact us to get Disability Benefts (Publication No. 05-10029). Thisbooklet also is available in Braille.

Disability reezeThere is a special rule that may help you get

higher retirement or disability benefts someday. You can use this rule i you are legallyblind but are not getting disability beneftsnow because you are still working. I yourearnings are lower because o your blindness,

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we can exclude those years when we calculateyour Social Security retirement or disabilitybeneft in the uture. Because Social Security

benefts are based on your average lietimeearnings, your beneft will be higher i wedo not count those years. We call this rule a“disability reeze.” Contact us i you want tofle or this “reeze.”

You can get SSI disability paymentsSSI payments are based on need. Your

income and resources must be less than cer-tain dollar limits. The income limits varyrom one state to another. You need not haveworked under Social Security to qualiy orSSI. Ask your local Social Security ofce about

the income limits in your state and contactus or Supplemental Security Income (SSI)(Publication No. 05-11000). This booklet alsois available in Braille.

You can work while receiving benefts

A number o rules make it easier or peoplereceiving disability benefts to work. Theserules are called “work incentives.”

People getting Social Security disabilitybenefts can continue to receive their beneftswhen they work as long as their earnings are

not more than an amount set by law.I you are receiving Social Security disability

benefts and you are legally blind, you can earnas much as $1,570 a month in 2008. This is







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higher than the earnings limit o $940 a monththat applies to disabled workers who are notblind. The earnings limits change each year.

Additionally, i you are blind and sel-employed, we do not evaluate the time youspend working in your business as we do orpeople who are not blind. This means you canbe doing a lot o work or your business, but stillreceive disability benefts, as long as your netproft averages $1,570 or less a month in 2008.

Work fgured dierently ater age 55I you are age 55 or older and legally blind,

we determine your ability to work dierentlythan we do or people who are not blind. Aterage 55, even i your earnings exceed $1,570 amonth in 2008, benefts are only suspended,not terminated, i the work you are doingrequires a lower level o skill and ability thanwhat you did beore you reached 55. We willpay you disability benefts or any month yourearnings all below this limit.

Dierent work incentives apply to peoplegetting SSI.

For more inormation about all the workincentives or people who receive either SocialSecurity disability or SSI disability, contact usand ask or Working While Disabled—How

We Can Help (Publication No. 05-10095). Thisbooklet also is available in Braille.








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Special services or peoplewho are blind

There are a number o services and products

specifcally designed or people who are blind.

Social Security lettersYou can choose to receive letters rom us in

several ways. Just let us know which optionyou preer. You can receive your letters:

•Byregularmailonly;• Byregularmailfollowedbyatelephonecall

to explain the inormation in the letter; or

•Bycertiedmail.

I you have a question about a SocialSecurity letter, you may call our toll-reenumber, or call or visit your local SocialSecurity ofce to ask or the letter to be reador explained to you.

Radio reading serviceWe provide special tapes o our publications

to local radio stations that oer readingservices or their blind and low-visionlisteners. To fnd out which stations in yourarea provide radio reading services, you shouldcall your local Social Security ofce.



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Publications available inalternative ormats

Many o our publications are available in

Braille, audio cassette tapes, compact disksor in enlarged print or people who are blindor visually impaired. In addition to thispublication, other publications available inalternative ormats are:

• Retirement Benefts

(Publication No. 05-10035);• Survivors Benefts(Publication No. 05-10084);

• Disability Benefts(Publication No. 05-10029);

• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

(Publication No. 05-11000);• Working While Disabled—How We Can Help

(Publication No. 05-10095);

• Working While Disabled—A Guide To Plans For Achieving Sel-Support(Publication No. 05-11017);

• What You Need To Know When You GetSocial Security Disability Benefts(Publication No. 05-10153);

• What You Need To Know When You GetSupplemental Security Income (SSI)(Publication No. 05-11011);

• Understanding The Benefts(Publication No. 05-10024); and













































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• A Summary Guide To Employment SupportFor Individuals With Disabilities UnderThe Social Security Disability Insurance

(SSDI) And Supplemental Security Income(SSI) Programs (Publication No. 64-030)—known as the “Red Book,” it provides amore detailed and technical explanationo work incentives than Working WhileDisabled—How We Can Help (PublicationNo. 05-10095).

To request copies o these publications inalternative ormats, you can:

• Callustoll-freeat1-800-772-1213. I youare dea or hard o hearing, you may call ourTTY number, 1-800-325-0778.

• Mail,callorfaxyourrequesttotheBrailleServices Team at the Social SecurityAdministration:

Mailing address:

Social Security AdministrationBraille Services Team

6401 Security BoulevardL1141 West Low Rise BuildingBaltimore, MD 21235

Phone numbers:

410-965-6414 or 410-965-6407TTY number: 1-800-325-0778

Fax number: 410-965-6413• Gotoourwebsite,www.socialsecurity.gov/ pubs/alt-pubs.html .














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Please have the ollowing inormationavailable when you contact us:

• Titleandpublicationnumberforthe

pamphlet or act sheet you want;• Yourpreferredformat(Braille,audiocassette

tape, compact disk or enlarged print); and

• Name,mailingaddressandtelephonenum-ber or the person to whom we should sendthe requested publication.



Social Security AdministrationSSA Publication No. 05-10052ICN 462554Unit o Issue - Package o 25January 2008 (Destroy prior editions))

Social Security: 10052

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