((a)) ** Authorization of payments** From the sums appropriated therefor, the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay to each State which has an approved plan for aid to the blind, for each quarter, beginning with the quarter commencing —
((1)) Repealed. , , .
((2)) in the case of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam, an amount equal to one-half of the total of the sums expended during such quarter as aid to the blind under the State plan, not counting so much of any expenditure with respect to any month as exceeds $37.50 multiplied by the total number of recipients of aid to the blind for such month; and
((3)) in the case of any State, an amount equal to 50 percent of the total amounts expended during such quarter as found necessary by the Secretary for the proper and efficient administration of the State plan.
((b)) ** Computation of amounts** The method of computing and paying such amounts shall be as follows:
((1)) The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall, prior to the beginning of each quarter, estimate the amount to be paid to the State for such quarter under the provisions of subsection (a), such estimate to be based on (A) a report filed by the State containing its estimate of the total sum to be expended in such quarter in accordance with the provisions of such subsection, and stating the amount appropriated or made available by the State and its political subdivisions for such expenditures in such quarter, and if such amount is less than the State’s proportionate share of the total sum of such estimated expenditures, the source or sources from which the difference is expected to be derived, (B) records showing the number of blind individuals in the State, and (C) such other investigation as the Secretary may find necessary.
((2)) The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall then certify to the Secretary of the Treasury the amount so estimated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, (A) reduced or increased, as the case may be, by any sum by which he finds that his estimate for any prior quarter was greater or less than the amount which should have been paid to the State under subsection (a) for such quarter, and (B) reduced by a sum equivalent to the pro rata share to which the United States is equitably entitled, as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, of the net amount recovered during a prior quarter by the State or any political subdivision thereof with respect to aid to the blind furnished under the State plan; except that such increases or reductions shall not be made to the extent that such sums have been applied to make the amount certified for any prior quarter greater or less than the amount estimated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services for such prior quarter: , That any part of the amount recovered from the estate of a deceased recipient which is not in excess of the amount expended by the State or any political subdivision thereof for the funeral expenses of the deceased shall not be considered as a basis for reduction under clause (B) of this paragraph.
((3)) The Secretary of the Treasury shall thereupon, through the Fiscal Service of the Treasury Department, and prior to audit or settlement by the Government Accountability Office, pay to the State, at the time or times fixed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the amount so certified.