Are you or your family member a United States military vet or military vet’s spouse? Vets or surviving spouses who need senior care might be eligible for additional financial assistance on their pension. Below we go over the highlights of the Aid and Attendance benefit that may offer financial help to senior vets or their spouses who need long-term care yet cannot pay for the complete expenses on their own.

 

Aid and Attendance: What is it?

 

It’s a pension program offered to vets through the VA.

 

The Department of Veterans Affairs helps vets and their families by offering supplemental income through Veterans Pension & Survivors Pension programs. Vets (or widowed spouses) who are in good health are eligible for the pension if they’re 65 and up and have a low-income level.

 

Vets and survivors who are qualified for the VA pension and need the aid and attendance of one other individual might be suitable for extra month-to-month payments above the usual pension amount. These additional payments include the Aid and Attendance benefit.

 

But to be eligible for the benefit, a vet or surviving spouse first must qualify for the VA pension.

 

The Department of Veterans Affairs lists several qualification factors for the VA pension:

  • Monthly assets and income below the limitations established by the Department of Veterans Affairs (as of Dec. 1, 2019, net worth mustn’t go over $129,094)
  • Minimum service requirements (at a min. of ninety days of active duty, with one of the days being within active wartime)
  • Age 65 and up (or disabled permanently)
  • Honorable discharge

 

To be eligible for the benefit, you have to meet one of the following extra medical requirements:

  • Have certain eyesight limitations
  • Are bedridden
  • Are you inside a nursing home because of a physical or mental incapacity like Alzheimer’s disease
  • Need the assistance of another individual for daily tasks such as dressing and bathing

Depending upon the vet’s financial status and care needs, the benefit may offer $2,170 or more a month toward the price of many kinds of senior care, including assisted living, nursing homes, residential care homes, memory care, and adult care day services, etc.

 

How to apply for VA benefits

 

To apply for A & A (Aid and Attendance), you must mail the VA forms to the PMC (pension management center), or it’s possible to apply in person at your local VA regional office.

 

The approval and application process for Aid and Attendance may be annoyingly slow. It may take weeks for family members to collect the required paperwork and fill out the documents. The approval process averages nine months, yet an accurate and complete application may be processed much quicker.

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