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Blind Allowance - Iowa State Administered State Supplement

A blind allowance is available to any person who:

·           Meets the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program’s definition of blindness, and

·           Is either receiving SSI or meets all SSI eligibility requirements but is over income.

The Social Security Administration is responsible for determining eligibility and issuing blind allowance payments.

For the Blind Allowance amounts for individuals and couples, Click on Desk Aid Supp. The Desk Aid for Supplemental Assistance contains the basic payment standards (payment amounts) for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and the various State Supplementary Assistance programs.

NOTE: If you are connected to the Internet you can click on Desk Aid for Supplemental Assistance to see the on-line Desk Aid.

NOTE: You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed in order to view the on-line version. If you do not have the Reader installed, you can download it free from: www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html.

A blind allowance payment is considered as a state-funded assistance payment that is based on the need of the recipient and thus is excluded income for purposes of determining eligibility for SSI-related Medicaid and client participation.

The blind allowance is reduced $1 for every $2 of earnings, and $1 for every $1 of unearned income, over the amounts that cause the federal benefit to go to zero.

The blind allowance is excluded income when determining eligibility for other State Supplementary Assistance programs the person may be receiving simultaneously. For example, the blind allowance would not be countable income to determine client participation or eligibility for the Residential Care Facility (RCF) program.

See: Iowa DHS Employees' Policy Manual, Title 8, Medicaid, Chapter E, Income, TYPES OF SSI-RELATED INCOME: Assistance Payments.

See Also:

·           Overview of Iowa's State Administered State Supplementary Assistance Programs.

·           Overview of Benefits in Iowa

Source: DHS Employees’ Policy Manual

Title 6, Other Income Maintenance (IM) Programs

·                        Chapter B, State Supplemental Assistance, Blind Allowance, page 19

Legal reference: 441 IAC 52.1(4) and 50.2(1)"a"

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