(a) As used in this article, the term:

(1) "Applicant" means a person who has applied for assistance under this article.

(2) "Assistance" means money payments to or hospital care in behalf of needy blind individuals but does not include any such payments to or care in behalf of any such individual who is an inmate of a public institution (except as a patient in a medical institution) nor any individual who:

(A) Is a patient in an institution for tuberculosis or mental illness or mental retardation; or

(B) Has been diagnosed as having tuberculosis or being mentally ill or mentally retarded and is a patient in a medical institution as a result thereof.

(3) "Ophthalmologist" means a physician who is licensed to practice medicine in this state and who is actively engaged in the treatment of diseases of the human eye.

(4) "Optometrist" means an individual who is licensed and registered to practice optometry in this state and who is actively engaged in the measurement of the powers of vision of the human eye.

(5) "Recipient" means a person who has received assistance under this article.

(6) "Supplementary services" means services other than money payments to blind persons in need.

(b) A person shall be considered blind for the purposes of this article if his vision, with correcting glasses, is so defective as to prevent the performance of activities for which eyesight is essential. The department shall promulgate rules and regulations stating, in terms of ophthalmic measurements, the amount of visual acuity which an applicant may have and still be eligible for assistance under this article.