How Veterans Benefits Can Help Pay for Care at Home

By Jennifer Benjamin | November 9, 2021 | Comments Off on How Veterans Benefits Can Help Pay for Care at Home

Veterans’ Aid and Attendance Benefits Information

The Aid and Attendance program is a benefit provided by the VA for veterans and surviving spouses to help pay for in-home care services.  It can also be used to pay for assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and adult day care programs.  The Aid and Attendance program is a pension benefit and, when qualified, the veteran or surviving spouse would receive a direct deposit payment each month to go towards the cost of long-term care services.

A veteran may be eligible for A&A when:

  • The veteran requires the aid of another person in order to perform personal functions required in everyday living, such as bathing, feeding, dressing, attending to the wants of nature, adjusting prosthetic devices, or protecting himself/herself from the hazards of his/her daily environment, OR,
  • The veteran is bedridden, in that his/her disability or disabilities requires that he/she remain in bed apart from any prescribed course of convalescence or treatment, OR,
  • The veteran is a patient in a nursing home due to mental or physical incapacity, OR,
  • The veteran is blind, or so nearly blind as to have corrected visual acuity of 5/200 or less in both eyes, or concentric contraction of the visual field to 5 degrees or less.

How to Apply for Aid and Attendance Benefits: 

  • A veteran may apply for Aid and Attendance by calling and speaking to a local Veterans Service Agency.  The local Veterans Service Agency in Long Island is in Stony Brook, NY.  The person to call at the Stony Brook office is Gary Richard who is a Veterans Service Officer.  He can be reached at 631-333-8759.
  • A veteran may also apply for Aid and Attendance or Housebound benefits by writing to the VA regional office having jurisdiction of the claim, found online at www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/ro/rocontacts.htm. This is the office where the claim for pension benefits was filed. If the regional office of jurisdiction is not known, information on benefits may be requested from any VA regional office.  You may also download the Aid and Attendance application visit www.veteranaid.org.
  • Copies of evidence should be included, preferably a report from an attending physician, validating the need for Aid and Attendance or Housebound type care.
  • The report should be in sufficient detail to determine whether there is disease or injury producing physical or mental impairment, loss of coordination, or conditions affecting the ability to dress and undress, to feed oneself, to attend to sanitary needs, and to keep oneself ordinarily clean and presentable.
  • In addition, it is necessary to determine whether the claimant is confined to the home or immediate premises.
  • The report should indicate how well the individual gets around, where the individual goes, and what he or she is able to do during a typical day.

Note: This veteran benefit process can take time to process, but all benefits are retro dated back to the original filing date.

For resources to assist with applying for the Aid and Attendance benefit free of charge, call Jennifer Benjamin at 631-319-3961 or email jennifer@familyfirsthomecompanions.com.

Veterans and their spouses may be eligible for benefits to help with the cost of care in the home. 

To qualify, the veteran must:

  • Have received an honorable or general discharge
  • Have doctor’s orders stating he or she needs the aid and assistance of others daily
  • Meet financial requirements
  • Have served 1 day during an active war and had no less than 90 days of service

The surviving spouse of a veteran may also qualify providing he or she was still married to the veteran at the time of the veteran’s death.

 

Jennifer Benjamin
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