§ 64.6209   Eligibility criteria.

   Before providing Equipment or related services to an individual, a
   certified program shall verify the individual's eligibility in
   accordance with this section.

   (a) Verification of disability. A certified program shall require an
   individual applying for Equipment and related services to provide
   verification of disability in accordance with paragraph (a)(1) or (2)
   of this section.

   (1) The individual may provide an attestation from a professional with
   direct knowledge of the individual's disability, either to the best of
   the professional's knowledge or under penalty of perjury, that the
   applicant is deaf-blind (as defined in § 64.6203(c) of this part). Such
   attestation shall include the attesting professional's full name,
   title, and contact information, including business name, address, phone
   number, and email address. Such attestation shall also include the
   basis of the attesting professional's knowledge that the individual is
   deaf-blind and may also include information about the individual's
   functional abilities to use Covered Services in various settings.

   (2) The individual may provide existing documentation that the
   individual is deaf-blind, such as an individualized education program
   (IEP) or a Social Security determination letter.

   (b) Verification of income eligibility. A certified program shall
   require an individual applying for Equipment and related services to
   provide verification that his or her income does not exceed 400 percent
   of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, as defined in 42 U.S.C. 9902(2), or
   that he or she is enrolled in a federal program with an income
   eligibility requirement that does not exceed 400 percent of the Federal
   Poverty Guidelines, such as Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
   Program, Supplemental Security Income, Federal Public Housing
   Assistance, or Veterans and Survivors Pension Benefit. The NDBEDP
   Administrator may identify state or other federal programs with income
   eligibility thresholds that do not exceed 400 percent of the Federal
   Poverty Guidelines for determining income eligibility for participation
   in the NDBEDP. When an applicant is not already enrolled in a
   qualifying low-income program, income eligibility may be verified by
   the certified program using appropriate and reasonable means.

   (c) Prohibition against requiring employment. No certified program may
   require, for eligibility, that an applicant be employed or actively
   seeking employment.

   (d) Availability of Covered Services. A certified program may require
   an equipment recipient to demonstrate, for eligibility, that a Covered
   Service that the Equipment is designed to use is available for use by
   the individual.

   (e) Age. A certified program may not establish eligibility criteria
   that exclude low-income individuals who are deaf-blind of a certain age
   from applying for or receiving Equipment if the needs of such
   individuals are not being met through other available resources.

   (f) Reverification. If an individual who has previously received
   equipment from a certified program applies to a certified program for
   additional Equipment or related services one year or more after the
   individual's income was last verified, the certified program shall
   re-verify an individual's income eligibility in accordance with
   paragraph (b) before providing new Equipment or related services. If a
   certified program has reason to believe that an individual's vision or
   hearing has improved sufficiently that the individual is no longer
   eligible for Equipment or related services, the certified program shall
   require reverification of the individual's disability in accordance
   with paragraph (a) before providing new Equipment or related services.

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