To be eligible for the Blind Pension program, a claimant must meet the following requirements:
A claimant cannot receive Supplemental Nursing Care, Temporary Assistance, General Relief, Supplemental Aid to the Blind, or a Vendor Payment (SNF or ICF) and also receive BP, however, the claimant may be included as the payee only on a Temporary Assistance, MAF or MC+ case.
Section 209.040 RSMo provides: “pensions to the blind as provided herein shall not be payable to a blind person unless such person has been declared ineligible to receive aid under the Federal Supplemental Security program.” BP applications will not be approved until the person has been found ineligible for SSI or it has been verified that he/she has too much cash, available resources, or income to be eligible for SSI.
The BP claimant must have been rejected for SAB within the last 90 days on a point of eligibility other than vision or age.
A claimant's eligibility based on age (Section 209.030 RSMo) is determined by the claimant's living arrangement.
To be eligible for the BP grant in most living arrangements, the claimant must be age 18 or older. Acceptable living arrangements include own home, room and board situation, living with relatives, etc.
To be eligible for BP while residing in a public institution such as a State Mental Hospital, the claimant must be age 65 or older.
Note: A Blind Pension claimant can not receive cash Nursing Care payments under BP. If a BP claimant enters a Medicaid nursing facility, MA eligibility must be explored. If eligible under MA, register an MA application, close the BP case and open as MA vendor. If ineligible for MA, explore BP vendor
HB 2171 (2018) updated Section 209.040 RSMo which defines A person is “blind” for purposes of qualifying for blind pension under this section if his or her vision cannot be corrected to better than or equal to five two-hundredths (5/200), in the better eye, or if his or her visual field is less than or equal to five (5) degrees as tested with five millimeter target on perimeter in the better eye, for a period that lasted or is expected to last at least twelve months. No person shall be entitled to receive a pension except upon a scientific vision test as determined by the Department of Social Services and supported by a certificate of an ophthalmologist, a physician skilled in disease of the eye, or an optometrist, designated or approved by the Department of Social Services to make such examination.”
Reexaminations are required no less than every fifth year after the initial determination, unless the individual has been deemed to have no usable vision. Proceed with determination of other eligibility factors while waiting for decision on visual eligibility.
NOTE: House Bill 1835 (2014) removed the requirement for re-examination every fifth year for some individuals. Persons who have been deemed by an ophthalmologist, physician skilled in disease of the eye, or an optometrist to have no usable vision shall be exempt from the five-year requirement. “No usable vision” shall mean an individual who does not have vision, with or without proper adjusted glasses, up to but not including 5/200, or whose best visual field is 5 degrees as tested with 5 millimeter target or perimeter, and the individual’s vision loss at this level is permanent, or is medically unlikely to return or improve.
NOTE: House Bill 2171 (2018) allows the Department to require a new determination if there is reason to believe the person is not eligible for blind pension. The ophthalmologist, physician, or optometrist who conducted the vision test may indicate that a reexamination should be performed in less than five years if the person’s vision may reasonably be expected to improve within five years.
Section 209.080 RSMo provides: “ … no person shall be entitled to benefits of this chapter who shall refuse to submit to treatment or operation to effect a cure when recommended by competent medical authority and approved by …” the Family Support Division “… but upon submission to such treatment or operation, the pension of applicant otherwise entitled thereto, shall be paid as in other cases: provided further, that no applicant who is more than seventy-five years of age shall be required to submit to an operation to restore his or her vision in order to come under the provision of this chapter, but may voluntarily submit to such operation.” Since this requirement is dependent on the findings of the examiner, the State Supervising Ophthalmologist determines in which case it applies, and local FSD office is notified.
Section 209.030 RSMo Blind Pension requires a participant to surrender his/her driver license within 60 days of approval, as a condition of eligibility. The participant is ineligible when he/she obtains, maintains, or renews a valid driver license in any state or territory while receiving Blind Pension.
Section 209.030 RSMo A person who operates a motor vehicle with or without a driver license is not eligible for Blind Pension.
A motor vehicle is defined in Section 301.010, RSMo, as "any mechanical device on wheels, designed primarily for use, or used, on highways, except motorized bicycles, vehicles propelled or drawn by horses or human power, or vehicles used exclusively on fixed rails or tracks, or cotton trailers or motorized wheelchairs operated by handicapped persons."
This requirement (209.030 RSMo) is the same as the December 1973 Eligibility Requirement, refer to Section 1015.000.00.
Based on Section 209.030, RSMo, benefits are not payable to any claimant who 'is an inmate of a public institution, except as a patient in a public medical institution'. This requirement is the same as the December 1973 Eligibility Requirement, refer to Section 1020.000.00.
To be eligible for Blind Pension, claimants must be:
Effective August 28, 2008, House Bill 1549 (2008) added Section 208.009 RSMo that requires participants applying for or receiving state or local public assistance benefits to provide proof of citizenship or alien status in order to receive or continue to receive benefits. This change in the law applies to Blind Pension only because all other categories of public assistance administered by Family Support Division are federal benefits.
Participants applying for or receiving Blind Pension must now provide proof of citizenship. Previously, the participant’s declaration of citizenship was acceptable verification. Now documentation of citizenship or eligible alien status must be obtained at application for new participants and at the next reinvestigation completed for active Blind Pension participants for whom citizenship or alien status is not already documented.
The following individuals are exempt from having to provide documentation of citizenship:
Refer to Section 0110.020.00 for a complete list of acceptable documents to use as verification. These are the same documents used to verify citizenship for all MO HealthNet programs.
Section 209.030 RSMo requires that a person be of good moral character in order to be eligible for Blind Pension. The signature of two householders on the Householder Certificate (IM-2A) is considered verification of this requirement. The IM-2A must be signed by “two disinterested and responsible householders of the county wherein applicant resides, who have known applicant for not less than two years next prior to date of such application, that such statements are true” (Section 209.070 RSMo). The applicant should be asked to suggest the persons to sign the certificate, and may wish to obtain the signatures. All possible assistance should be by the worker in completing the application.
An eligible participant must be one who does not have a sighted spouse, who is able to provide for the reasonable support of the participant. A sighted spouse is defined as one who is not visually eligible for Blind Pension.
Support from a sighted spouse is determined based on the gross income of the sighted spouse. A “sighted spouse” is deemed to be able to provide for reasonable support if his/her income meets or exceeds 500% of the Federal Poverty Level for the couple.
If the spouse does not reside in the home of the participant, his/her income is not considered.
Section 209.030 RSMo provides, an eligible claimant must be one who is not publicly soliciting alms in any manner or through any artifice (trick) while receiving BP. Verification will be by the claimant's statement, unless questionable. Refer to the December 1973 Eligibility Requirements, Soliciting Alms, Section 1045.000.00.
Section 209.030 RSMo provides that a participant is not eligible if he/she is one who owns property or has an interest in property to the value of thirty thousand dollars or more, or if married and actually living with his or her husband or wife, if the value of his or her property, or the value of his or her interest in property, together with that of the spouse, exceeds thirty thousand dollars. The real estate occupied by the blind person or spouse as the home, shall be excluded.
“Total Property” is defined as including all property of any kind or character, such as real and personal property (except the home in which he/she lives), cash surrender value of life insurance, cash and securities. When a married couple is not living together each person, if blind, may own up to the maximum of $29,999.99.
Per House Bill 2171 (2018) funds held in an Achieving a Better Life Experience Account (ABLE) owned by the blind pension participant are excluded up to $100,000 in determining total property owned by the participant and his/her spouse. Funds held in an ABLE account by the sighted spouse are excluded in total.
For the purposes of this determination, the word 'home' is defined as:
If a Blind Pension recipient leaves the home, the home becomes an available resource immediately and the 24 month rule does not apply.
Real and personal property inclusions are the same as in Section 1035.005.10.
Policies for establishing the value of real and personal property are the same as those for OAA and PTD in Section 1030.000.00.
Section 209.035 RSMo. states: “Any proceeds from involuntary conversion of real propert into personal property (such as forced transfer under condemnation, eminent domain, and fire, flood or other act of God) received by a recipient while eligible to receive public assistance (Blind Pension) benefits under existing law shall be considered real property for a period of one year from the time of receipt. For the purposes of this section the word “receipt” means actual receipt of the proceeds or the payment into court of the proceeds, except that in condemnation cases where the initial exception to the commissoner's award is filed by the condemning authority, the word receipt means receipt of an award under a final “judgement”.
The following points must be considered in administering this Section of the law:
(1) This applies to BP recipients but not to applicants.
(2) Determination as to whether property is taken by “condemnation” or “eminent domain” is made on the basis of whether or not the property has been sold to the government, a governmental agency, or to a public utility which has the authority to acquire property by eminent domain. It is immaterial whether such property was acquired by purchase or through condemnation proceedings.
(3) The phrase “fire, flood, or other acts of God is interpreted as also including destruction of real property by wind of storm. The payment received from an insurance company will be given the same exemption as described below for property sold under eminent domain.
(4) An exception is made to the definition of the date of receipt in condemnation cases where the condemning authority files an appeal to the award made by the commissioner. In such cases the date of receipt is defined to include the period of time while the appeal is pending, and date of receipt would then be the date on which payment is received as a result of final jdgement.
Refer to Section 1030.040.00.
Refer to Section 1030.045.00.
Refer to Section 1030.050.00.
Section 209.060 RSMo provides, ... “any person who shall by gifts, secret disposition or other means dispose of any property in his or her possession in order to become wholly or in part eligible within the provision of this chapter shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor”.
Under the provisions of Section 209.140 RSMo, an application must be rejected if it is determined property has been transferred for the purpose of becoming eligible for Blind Pension. Such person is ineligible for BP forever.