---
kind: "range"
citation: "20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1581–404.1587"
title: "20"
from: "404.1581"
to: "404.1587"
count: 7
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/20/404.1581..404.1587"
---

# §404.1581. Meaning of blindness as defined in the law.


We will consider you blind under the law for a period of disability and for payment of disability insurance benefits if we determine that you are statutorily blind. Statutory blindness is defined in the law as central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the use of correcting lens. An eye which has a limitation in the field of vision so that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees is considered to have a central visual acuity of 20/200 or less. Your blindness must meet the duration requirement in [§ 404.1509](/cfr/20/404.1509.md). We do not consider certain felony-related and prison-related impairments, as explained in [§ 404.1506](/cfr/20/404.1506.md).


# §404.1582. A period of disability based on blindness.


If we find that you are blind and you meet the insured status requirement, we may establish a period of disability for you regardless of whether you can do substantial gainful activity. A period of disability protects your earnings record under Social Security so that the time you are disabled will not count against you in determining whether you will have worked long enough to qualify for benefits and the amount of your benefits. However, you will not necessarily be entitled to receive disability insurance cash benefits even though you are blind. If you are a blind person under age 55, you must be unable to do any substantial gainful activity in order to be paid disability insurance cash benefits.


# §404.1583. How we determine disability for blind persons who are age 55 or older.


We will find that you are eligible for disability insurance benefits even though you are still engaging in substantial gainful activity, if—

- (a) You are blind;
- (b) You are age 55 or older; and
- (c) You are unable to use the skills or abilities like the ones you used in any substantial gainful activity which you did regularly and for a substantial period of time. (However, you will not be paid any cash benefits for any month in which you are doing substantial gainful activity.)

# §404.1584. Evaluation of work activity of blind people.

- (a) **General.** If you are blind (as explained in [§ 404.1581](/cfr/20/404.1581.md)), we will consider the earnings from the work you are doing to determine whether or not you should be paid cash benefits.
- (b) **Under Age 55.** If you are under age 55, we will evaluate the work you are doing using the guides in [paragraph (d)](#d) of this section to determine whether or not your work shows that you are doing substantial gainful activity. If you are not doing substantial gainful activity, we will pay you cash benefits. If you are doing substantial gainful activity, we will not pay you cash benefits. However, you will be given a period of disability as described in [subpart D](/cfr/20/subpartD.md) of this part.
- (c) **Age 55 or older.** If you are age 55 or older, we will evaluate your work using the guides in [paragraph (d)](#d) of this section to determine whether or not your work shows that you are doing substantial gainful activity. If you have not shown this ability, we will pay you cash benefits. If you have shown an ability to do substantial gainful activity, we will evaluate your work activity to find out how your work compares with the work you did before. If the skills and abilities of your new work are about the same as those you used in the work you did before, we will not pay you cash benefits. However, if your new work requires skills and abilities which are less than or different than those you used in the work you did before, we will pay you cash benefits, but not for any month in which you actually perform substantial gainful activity.
- (d) **Evaluation of earnings—**
  - (1) **Earnings that will ordinarily show that you have engaged in substantial gainful activity.** We will ordinarily consider that your earnings from your work activities show that you have engaged in substantial gainful activity if your monthly earnings average more than the amount(s) shown in paragraphs [(d)(2)](#d-2) and [(3)](#d-3) of this section. We will apply §§ [404.1574(a)(2)](/cfr/20/404.1574.md?p=a-2), [404.1575(c)](/cfr/20/404.1575.md?p=c), and [404.1576](/cfr/20/404.1576.md) in determining the amount of your average earnings.
  - (2) **Substantial gainful activity guidelines for taxable years before 1978.** For work activity performed in taxable years before 1978, the average earnings per month that we ordinarily consider enough to show that you have done substantial gainful activity are the same for blind people as for others. See [§ 404.1574(b)(2)](/cfr/20/404.1574.md?p=b-2) for the earnings guidelines for other than blind individuals.
  - (3) **Substantial gainful activity guidelines for taxable years beginning 1978.** For taxable years beginning 1978, if you are blind, the law provides different earnings guidelines for determining if your earnings from your work activities are substantial gainful activity. Ordinarily, we consider your work to be substantial gainful activity, if your average monthly earnings are more than those shown in Table I. For years after 1977 and before 1996, increases in the substantial gainful activity guideline were linked to increases in the monthly exempt amount under the retirement earnings test for individuals aged 65 to 69. Beginning with 1996, increases in the substantial gainful activity amount have depended only on increases in the national average wage index.

# §404.1585. Trial work period for persons age 55 or older who are blind.


If you become eligible for disability benefits even though you were doing substantial gainful activity because you are blind and age 55 or older, you are entitled to a trial work period if—

- (a) You later return to substantial gainful activity that requires skills or abilities comparable to those required in the work you regularly did before you became blind or became 55 years old, whichever is later; or
- (b) Your last previous work ended because of an impairment and the current work requires a significant vocational adjustment.

# §404.1586. Why and when we will stop your cash benefits.

- (a) **When you are not entitled to benefits.** If you become entitled to disability cash benefits as a statutorily blind person, we will find that you are no longer entitled to benefits beginning with the earliest of—
  - (1) The month your vision, based on current medical evidence, does not meet the definition of blindness and your disability does not continue under the rules in [§ 404.1594](/cfr/20/404.1594.md) and you were disabled only for a specified period of time in the past;
  - (2) The month your vision, based on current medical evidence, does not meet the definition of blindness and your disability does not continue under the rules in [§ 404.1594](/cfr/20/404.1594.md), but not earlier than the month in which we mail you a notice saying that the information we have shows that you are not disabled;
  - (3) If you are under age 55, the month in which you demonstrated your ability to engage in substantial gainful activity (following completion of a trial work period); however, we may pay you benefits for certain months in and after the reentitlement period which follows the trial work period. (See [§ 404.1592a](/cfr/20/404.1592a.md) for a discussion of the reentitlement period, and [§ 404.316](/cfr/20/404.316.md) on when your benefits will end.); or
  - (4) If you are age 55 or older, the month (following completion of a trial work period) when your work activity shows you are able to use, in substantial gainful activity, skills and abilities comparable to those of some gainful activity which you did with some regularity and over a substantial period of time. The skills and abilities are compared to the activity you did prior to age 55 or prior to becoming blind, whichever is later.
- (b) **If we find that you are not entitled to disability cash benefits.** If we find that you are not entitled to disability cash benefits on the basis of your work activity but your visual impairment is sufficiently severe to meet the definition of blindness, the period of disability that we established for you will continue.
- (c) **If you do not follow prescribed treatment.** If treatment has been prescribed for you that can restore your ability to work, you must follow that treatment in order to be paid benefits. If you are not following that treatment and you do not have a good reason for failing to follow that treatment (see [§ 404.1530(c)](/cfr/20/404.1530.md?p=c)), we will find that your disability has ended. The month in which your disability will be found to have ended will be the first month in which you failed to follow the prescribed treatment.
- (d) **If you do not cooperate with us.** If we ask you to give us medical or other evidence or to go for a medical examination by a certain date, we will find that your disability has ended if you fail, without good cause, to do what we ask. [Section 404.911](/cfr/20/404.911.md) explains the factors we consider and how we will determine generally whether you have good cause for failure to cooperate. In addition, [§ 404.1518](/cfr/20/404.1518.md) discusses how we determine whether you have good cause for failing to attend a consultative examination. The month in which your disability will be found to have ended will be the month in which you failed to do what we asked.
- (e) **If we are unable to find you.** If there is a question about whether you continue to be disabled by blindness and we are unable to find you to resolve the question, we will find that your disability, has ended. The month it ends will be the first month in which the question arose and we could not find you.
- (f) **Before we stop your benefits.** Before we stop your benefits or period of disability, we will give you a chance to give us your reasons why we should not stop your benefits or your period of disability. [Section 404.1595](/cfr/20/404.1595.md) describes your rights and the procedures we will follow.
- (g) **If you are in an appropriate program of vocational rehabilitation services, employment services, or other support services.**
  - (1) Your benefits, and those of your dependents, may be continued after your impairment is no longer disabling if—
    - (i) You are participating in an appropriate program of vocational rehabilitation services, employment services, or other support services, as described in § [404.327(a)](/cfr/20/404.327.md?p=a) and [(b)](/cfr/20/404.327.md?p=b);
    - (ii) You began participating in the program before the date your disability ended; and
    - (iii) We have determined under [§ 404.328](/cfr/20/404.328.md) that your completion of the program, or your continuation in the program for a specified period of time, will increase the likelihood that you will not have to return to the disability benefit rolls.
  - (2) We generally will stop your benefits with the earliest of these months—
    - (i) The month in which you complete the program; or
    - (ii) The month in which you stop participating in the program for any reason (see [§ 404.327(b)](/cfr/20/404.327.md?p=b) for what we mean by “participating” in the program); or
    - (iii) The month in which we determine under [§ 404.328](/cfr/20/404.328.md) that your continuing participation in the program will no longer increase the likelihood that you will not have to return to the disability benefit rolls.

      Exception to [paragraph (d)](#d): In no case will we stop your benefits with a month earlier than the second month after the month your disability ends, provided that you meet all other requirements for entitlement to and payment of benefits through such month.


# §404.1587. Circumstances under which we may suspend and terminate your benefits before we make a determination.

- (a) **We will suspend your benefits if you are not disabled.** We will suspend your benefits if all of the information we have clearly shows that you are not disabled and we will be unable to complete a determination soon enough to prevent us from paying you more monthly benefits than you are entitled to. This may occur when you are blind as defined in the law and age 55 or older and you have returned to work similar to work you previously performed.
- (b) **We will suspend your benefits if you fail to comply with our request for necessary information.** We will suspend your benefits effective with the month in which it is determined in accordance with [§ 404.1596(b)(2)(i)](/cfr/20/404.1596.md?p=b-2-i) that your disability benefits should stop due to your failure, without good cause (see [§ 404.911](/cfr/20/404.911.md)), to comply with our request for necessary information. When we have received the information, we will reinstate your benefits for any previous month for which they are otherwise payable, and continue with the CDR process.
- (c) **We will terminate your benefits.** We will terminate your benefits following 12 consecutive months of benefit suspension because you did not comply with our request for information in accordance with [§ 404.1596(b)(2)(i)](/cfr/20/404.1596.md?p=b-2-i). We will count the 12-month suspension period from the start of the first month that you stopped receiving benefits (see [paragraph (b)](#b) of this section). This termination is effective with the start of the 13th month after the suspension began because you failed to cooperate.