---
kind: "range"
citation: "20 C.F.R. §§ 416.931–416.934"
title: "20"
from: "416.931"
to: "416.934"
count: 4
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/20/416.931..416.934"
---

# §416.931. The meaning of presumptive disability or presumptive blindness.


If you are applying for supplemental security income benefits on the basis of disability or blindness, we may pay you benefits before we make a formal finding of whether or not you are disabled or blind. In order to receive these payments, we must find that you are presumptively disabled or presumptively blind. You must also meet all other eligibility requirements for supplemental security income benefits. We may make these payments to you for a period not longer than 6 months. These payments will not be considered overpayments if we later find that you are not disabled or blind.


# §416.932. When presumptive payments begin and end.


We may make payments to you on the basis of presumptive disability or presumptive blindness before we make a formal determination about your disability or blindness. The payments can not be made for more than 6 months. They start for a period of not more than 6 months beginning in the month we make the presumptive disability or presumptive blindness finding. The payments end the earliest of—

- (a) The month in which we make a formal finding on whether or not you are disabled or blind;
- (b) The month for which we make the sixth monthly payment based on presumptive disability or presumptive blindness to you; or
- (c) The month in which you no longer meet one of the other eligibility requirements (e.g., your income exceeds the limits).

# §416.933. How we make a finding of presumptive disability or presumptive blindness.


We may make a finding of presumptive disability or presumptive blindness if the evidence available at the time we make the presumptive disability or presumptive blindness finding reflects a high degree of probability that you are disabled or blind. In the case of readily observable impairments (e.g., total blindness), we will find that you are disabled or blind for purposes of this section without medical or other evidence. For other impairments, a finding of disability or blindness must be based on medical evidence or other information that, though not sufficient for a formal determination of disability or blindness, is sufficient for us to find that there is a high degree of probability that you are disabled or blind. For example, for claims involving the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the Social Security Field Office may make a finding of presumptive disability if your medical source provides us with information that confirms that your disease manifestations meet the severity of listing-level criteria for HIV. Of course, regardless of the specific HIV manifestations, the State agency may make a finding of presumptive disability if the medical evidence or other information reflects a high degree of probability that you are disabled.


# §416.934. Impairments that may warrant a finding of presumptive disability or presumptive blindness.


We may make findings of presumptive disability and presumptive blindness in specific impairment categories without obtaining any medical evidence. These specific impairment categories are—

- (a) Amputation of a leg at the hip;
- (b) Allegation of total deafness;
- (c) Allegation of total blindness;
- (d) Allegation of bed confinement or immobility without a wheelchair, walker, or crutches, due to a longstanding condition, excluding recent accident and recent surgery;
- (e) Allegation of a stroke (cerebral vascular accident) more than 3 months in the past and continued marked difficulty in walking or using a hand or arm;
- (f) Allegation of cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy or muscle atrophy and marked difficulty in walking (e.g., use of braces), speaking, or coordination of the hands or arms.
- (g) **Allegation of Down syndrome.**
- (h) Allegation of intellectual disability or another neurodevelopmental impairment (for example, autism spectrum disorder) with complete inability to independently perform basic self-care activities (such as toileting, eating, dressing, or bathing) made by another person who files on behalf of a claimant who is at least 4 years old.
- (i) **Allegation of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease).**
- (j) **Infants weighing less than 1200 grams at birth, until attainment of 1 year of age.**
- (k) Infants weighing at least 1200 but less than 2000 grams at birth, and who are small for gestational age, until attainment of 1 year of age. (Small for gestational age means a birth weight that is at or more than 2 standard deviations below the mean or that is less than the third growth percentile for the gestational age of the infant.)