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Aid and Attendence
AID AND ATTENDANCE
INTRODUCTION TO THE VETERANS' AID AND ATTENDANCE SPECIAL PENSION
The Veterans' Administration offers a Special Pension with Aid and Attendance (A&A) benefit that is largely unknown. This Special Pension (part of the VA Improved Pension program) allows for Veterans and surviving spouses who require the regular attendance of another person to assist in eating, bathing, dressing, undressing or taking care of the needs of nature to receive additional monetary benefits. It also includes individuals who are blind or a patient in a nursing home because of mental or physical incapacity. Assisted care in an assisted living facility also qualifies.
This most important benefit is overlooked by many families with Veterans or surviving spouses who need additional monies to help care for ailing parents or loved ones. This is a "pension benefit" and is not dependent upon service-related injuries for compensation. Most Veterans who are in need of assistance qualify for this pension. Aid and Attendance can help pay for care in the home, nursing home or assisted living facility. A Veteran is eligible for up to $1,554 per month, while a surviving spouse is eligible for up to $998 per month. A couple is eligible for up to $1,842 per month*.
The Aid and Attendance Benefit is considered to be the third tier of a VA program called Improved Pension. The other two tiers are Basic and Housebound. Each tier has its own level of benefits and qualifications. While the objective of this site is to disseminate information about the Aid and Attendance Benefit, we urge you to read an important document prepared by the American Veterans Institute that clearly explains the Improved Pension program, its levels of benefits and the qualifications for each. If you or your loved one does not qualify for Aid and Attendance, you may want to check to see if you qualify for another level of the Pension.
Please browse this site using the menu on the left to learn more about the Aid & Attendance Special Pension, Eligibility Requirements, How to Apply, What to Expect and Resources to help you with this critical benefit. Also, please visit the Sponsors of this site who have made it possible to disseminate this information to veterans and their families.
We highly recommend you visit the One Experience page of this site for critical information on this process.
MORE.......some duplication here....
More and more senior veterans are discovering a little-known veterans
benefit that helps pay for long-term care.
Called the "aid-and-attendance" pension benefit, it pays up to $1,470 a
month to a qualifying veteran, $945 a month to a surviving spouse, or $1,743
a month to a couple to defray the expense of long-term care.
WHO CAN APPLY?
To qualify, veterans must:
. Have served in wartime, though they didn't have to see combat. . Have no
more than $80,000 in assets, not counting the family home, car and personal
possessions. . Prove financial need, usually by demonstrating expenses
exceed their income. . Show they need someone to help them with basic
activities of living, such as bathing, grooming or eating.
The monthly benefit pays up to:
. $1,470 to a veteran.
. $945 to a surviving spouse.
. $1,743 to a couple.
First, they don't have to exhaust their assets, as they must do before
getting help from Medicaid with nursing home costs, he said. A veteran may
have up to $80,000, and a home, car and personal possessions aren't counted.
Next, veterans can transfer assets, typically to their children, to reduce
their net worth and qualify for the pension benefit, Mr. Clark said. Anyone
applying for Medicaid faces strict limits on asset transfers.
Finally, applicants usually can prove a financial need by showing their
expenses exceed their income. That's a modest standard for people facing
tens of thousands of dollars in long-term care costs each year, he said.
Applications generally take four to six months for the Department of
Veterans Affairs to process, assuming a senior has submitted all the
required forms and answered all the questions.
When people hear about veterans benefits, they usually think of veterans
hospitals treating service-related injuries. Many don't realize the benefits
extend far beyond that.
A particularily useful web site in learning about this benefit is
http://www.veteranaid.org/index.php. The site includes the forms and step by
step instructions for application.
EVEN MORE.........another article on this......
Those who serve during conflict are eligible for up to $19,000 a year
A little-known veterans’ benefit for long-term care expenses is available to wartime veterans and their spouses. But the benefit is being overlooked by thousands of families, industry observers say.
The Special Pension for Veterans’ Aid and Attendance pays up to $1,644 a month, $19,736 annually, toward assisted living, nursing homes or in-home care for veterans 65 and older who served at least 90 days and one day during wartime — stateside or overseas. Veterans and their spouses can receive up to $23,396 annually and spouses of deceased veterans, $12,681.
Yet, an estimated $22 billion a year goes unclaimed, said Don Soard, a volunteer with Operation Veteran Aid in Oklahoma City. In 2007, only 134,000 seniors nationwide received the benefit, which was established in 1952.
"Literally hundreds of thousands don’t even know about it,” Soard said. "Due to incomplete information, many disqualify themselves on income or assets or find the paperwork too burdensome.”
Soard helps families complete the necessary forms, so that approval comes in four to six months. The process is streamlined for vets who are blind or have memory issues and widows with medical needs, he said. Most applicants qualify and payments are retroactive, Soard said. The few who are denied on excessive liquid assets can seek financial advice to qualify, he said.
Soard started his volunteer mission two years ago, following the deaths of two family members who served in WWII.
"If they’d known about this benefit, they’d have a much better quality of life in later years,” he said. "Without it, many vets are forced to go on Medicaid.”
Oklahoma is one of nine states where the welfare program doesn’t cover assisted living costs. Assisted living often can be an alternative to a nursing home when 24-hour skilled care is not an absolute need, said Willie Ferguson, executive director of Legend at Rivendell in Oklahoma City.
"But if someone just has Social Security and a small pension, it’s not enough to live here,” Ferguson said.
According to a 2008 MetLife survey, assisted living in Oklahoma averages $2,346 a month, while nursing homes cost $153 a day for a private room.
Of 73 Legend residents, nine receive the veterans’ special pension, including Tom Bowen, 77, of Moore.
"Until I toured this operation, I had no idea the benefit was available,” said Bowen, a retired engineer technician from the Federal Aviation Administration who served stateside during the Korean Conflict.
Bowen recently moved into the Legend facility following several mini strokes and a diagnosis of short-term memory loss.
"It’s been pretty hard trying to handle expenses on my own and being able to replace savings,” said Marie Bowen, his wife of 57 years. Finding a nearby facility and learning about the special veterans’ pension has been a godsend, she said.
