VA Aid and Attendance Benefit: Eligibility, Application Process, and Approval Tips

hi my name is Dan York I'm a retired Major General from the Army and I am a place for Mom's expert military adviser on all things related to veteran benefits I've served with the Army for 36 years I commissioned from West Point in 1981 as an infantry officer and served with 101st for 5 years before transitioning into 31 years with the reserves I'm actually shocked at how few veterans and families of veterans are aware of VA pension and aid and attendance benefits uh to be specific I spoke to a fourstar classmate that's as high as you can get in the army as a general and he'd never heard of them and that's pretty common sadly the Veterans Administration was established in 1989 uh through the work of President Ronald Reagan and he made it a cabinet level executive um Department which gave veterans direct help from the president uh and down so the VA Pension is a monthly benefit that veterans may receive if a veteran is enrolled then the money that they receive from the VA Pension is deposited into their account on a monthly basis and if they're deceased then it goes into their dependence account the VA Pension is great for veterans because it pays for things like Home Care adult dayare U board in care Assisted Living skilled nursing care and memory care and there are several criteria that determine whether a veteran is eligible or not first of all they have to be 65 or older the second uh criteria uh that they may meet is that they have a permanent and total disability a third is that they receive suppl mental U security income the fourth is that they receive uh Social Security disability insurance and then the fifth would be that they reside in a nursing home those would be the key things and if they meet one of those then they may be eligible to receive VA Pension assistance there are also service requirements if a veteran uh has served for 90 days on active duty and one of those days was during wartime conflict then that would meet the service requirement and then there is a financial stipulation uh if a person's finances are too high then they're just not going to be eligible as of December uh 1 of 2022 until November 30 of 2023 a veteran cannot have more than $1 15,5 38 that doesn't include their car or their home or their personal items Aid in attendance is an add-on if a veteran qualifies for the VA Pension aid and attendance is something that they apply for and then it's an added benefit that they receive as part of that VA Pension if you qualify for the VA Pension then you're in the running for the aid and attendance benefits for example my folks who are in a senior living uh Facility in Vancouver Washington they needed that supplemental income in order to afford living there Aiden attendance provided that the clinical requirements for aid and attendance in order to receive that a veteran would have to meet one of the following uh their activities of daily living would necessitate help uh they're bedridden uh on a constant basis they have limited Vision the Veterans Administration is going to conduct their due diligence to make sure that the veteran truly qualifies for Aid attendance benefit and that's a three-year look back period where they're going to make sure that assets were not sold under market value or there was any unored activity that would change a person's worth that is not legitimate that's what the VA is going to look at in order to determine whether a veteran is eligible to receive Aid in attendance benefits what I love about Aid in attendance is the specific help that it gives to veterans in my dad's case um he could not have afforded to live in a senior living facility but it also helps in things like um Memory Care Assisted Living inhome care let me talk for a moment about how the VA calculates what a veteran is paid so what happens is the VA takes the maximum annual pension rate and they subtract from that your annual income and that's what your yearly amount would be the monthly annual pension rate is different for the VA Pension than it is for Aid in attendance benefits and it's calculated on an individual basis depending on what the needs are of the veteran I would not recommend trying to calculate an mappr by a veteran or by their loved ones on their own it's pretty complicated so this is where you would get assistance from the VA uh in determining exactly what that amount is uh it's too hard to calculate on your own let's say that you're a a veteran and or the the uh dependent of a veteran and you know that uh you need assistance the best thing to do is to contact the Veterans Administration and to do that you're going to need uh your the right documentation so medically your medical records whatever is appropriate that the VA asked for typically they'll ask for a DD214 which is your military record but you'll need to have that paperwork together go to the VA with that and then they will help calculate what you're eligible for the best part of of helping our veterans receive these benefits is the joy that comes from knowing that this is a a game Cher for them financially and also just emotionally and psychologically it's just wonderful that they're able to to get a benefit that makes a difference in their loved ones lives for more information and advice on caregiving senior care costs and more subscribe and visit our library of resources at a place for mom.com caregiver [Music] resources