(a) Assistance grants shall be given under this act to any person who:

(1) Has no vision or whose vision with correcting glasses is so defective as to prevent the performance of ordinary activities for which eyesight is essential;

(2) Is sixteen (16) years of age or over; and

(3) Is not receiving any other type of assistance grant.

(b) The appropriate division of the Department of Human Services shall:

(1) Promulgate rules and regulations, in terms of ophthalmic measurements, to determine the amount of visual acuity which an applicant may have and still be eligible for assistance grants under this act;

(2) Designate a suitable number of ophthalmologists and optometrists, licensed to practice in Arkansas and actively engaged in the practice of their respective professions, to examine applicants and recipients of assistance grants to the blind;

(3) Fix and pay to ophthalmologists and optometrists fees for examination of applicants; and

(4) Develop or cooperate with other agencies in developing measures for the prevention of blindness, the restoration of eyesight, and the vocational adjustment of blind persons.

(c)

(1) No applications shall be approved until the applicant has been examined by an ophthalmologist or optometrist, whichever the individual may select, designated or approved by the division to make the examination.

(2) The examining ophthalmologist or optometrist shall certify in writing upon forms provided by the division the findings of the examination.

(3) The recipient shall submit to a reexamination as to his or her eyesight when required to do so by the division.

(d) The amount of the assistance grants shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of § 20-76-407, except that in determining need, the division shall disregard the first eighty-five dollars ($85.00) per month of earned income, and where earned income has been disregarded in determining the need of a person receiving aid to the blind, the earned income so disregarded shall be disregarded in determining the need of any other individual for old age assistance, aid to the families of dependent children, aid to the blind, and aid to the permanently and totally disabled. The assistance grants shall be in the form of money payments to blind persons in need.

(e) On the basis of the findings of the ophthalmologist's examination as provided for in this act, supplementary services may be provided by the division to any applicant or recipient who is in need of treatment either to prevent blindness or to restore his or her eyesight whether or not he or she is blind as defined in this act or rules and regulations of the division, if he or she is otherwise qualified for assistance grants under this act. The supplementary services may include necessary traveling and other expenses to receive treatment from a hospital or clinic designated by the division.