In the year 1919 President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed
November 11 as Armistice Day to honor those Veterans who served during
World War I. On November 11, 1954, Armistice Day was proclaimed a legal
national holiday and the name was changed to "Veterans Day" to honor
all veterans of all wars.
Every November 11, ceremonies are held throughout the
United States honoring Veterans of wars. A National Ceremony is held at
Arlington Cemetery at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where the laying
of the presidential wreath and military playing of “Taps” is presented.
Since its establishment in 1930, the Department of
Veterans Affairs has evolved to supporting and aiding the nation’s
veterans in numerous ways. One of these services for example, the
Veterans Health Administration, is the largest single provider of
medical care in the United States. Its 22 regions with 154 hospitals
and their associated 875 outpatient clinics offer the following
services.
Hospital, outpatient medical, dental, pharmacy and prosthetic services
Domiciliary, nursing home, and community-based residential care
Sexual trauma counseling
Specialized health care for women veterans
Health and rehabilitation programs for homeless veterans
Readjustment counseling
Alcohol and drug dependency treatment
Medical evaluation for disorders associated with military service in
the Gulf War, or Treatment for exposure to Agent Orange, radiation, and
other environmental hazards
HISA grants
Other special benefits
The Department of Veterans Affairs provides three types of long term care services for veterans.
The first are health care benefits provided to
veterans who have service-connected disabilities, who are receiving VA
Pension or who are considered low income. These services include free
medical care, possible free prescription drugs, orthotics and
prosthetics, home renovation grants for disabilities, home care,
assisted living, domiciliary care, nursing home care, and a possible
host of other services or benefits.
The second benefit is state veterans homes. The
majority of these homes offer nursing care but some may offer assisted
living or domiciliary care. The Department of Veterans Affairs in
conjunction with the states helps build and support state veterans
homes. Money is provided to help with construction and a federal
subsidy of $72.71 a day is provided for each veteran using state
veterans nursing home services. These homes are generally available for
most veterans and sometimes their spouses and in some cases for
so-called "Goldstar parents." Veterans homes are run by the states,
sometimes with the help of contract management. There may be waiting
lists in some states.
The third benefit for veterans is disability
income programs. The most familiar of these benefits is an income for
service-connected disabled veterans called "Compensation." The least
known of these is a program officially called "Pension" but popularly
known as the "aid and attendance benefit."
-
All active-duty veterans who served at least 90 days during a
period of war are eligible for Pension and the additional income from
aid and attendance or housebound allowances. A single surviving spouse
of such a veteran is also eligible.
-
All qualifying veteran applicants over the age of 65 are eligible
for pension but must meet income and asset tests. Applicants under the
age of 65 must in addition be totally disabled to qualify. Disability
does not have to be service-connected.
-
A surviving spouse can be any age and there is no need for disability.
The aid and attendance benefit can pay additional
income to provide for the costs associated with home care, assisted
living, nursing homes, adult day care and other unreimbursed medical
expenses. It can also pay for a family member other than a spouse to be
the care giver. The amount of payment varies with the type of care,
recipient income and the marital status of the recipient. Here are some
examples of how this benefit can help veterans.
Example #1
The National Care Planning Council receives many calls from family
members of veterans, asking if there is any help available to them. One
such call came from a woman who had been juggling her job and caring
for her father in her home for over five years. She had just lost her
job and with no income, did not know how she would keep her home or
give her father the care he needed. She read an article that had been
written by the National Care Planning Council and published in her
local newspaper and called their phone number. The article mentioned
that a member of the family -- not including a spouse -- can be paid
through VA to provide care for a loved one at home who is either a war
veteran or the surviving spouse of a war veteran. Her father is a war
veteran. When told that she could get an additional $1,644 a month
through her father by providing her father's care she was shocked. She
was also extremely grateful and ended up sobbing into tears over the
phone when she found out about the benefit and realized it would help
her keep her home and her father may probably get a check for her
retroactive previous care from VA worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Example #2
Another recent caller’s mother is 89 years old and has been in assisted
living for four years. As a widow of a veteran she did not qualify for
the Aid & Attendance Pension 4 years ago because her assets were
too high. In the meantime she has been using up her assets along with
her income to pay for the assisted living. The local veterans service
office has not been helpful in getting this claim approved even though
she had reached the allowable asset limit over two years ago. The
family was considering putting her in a less desirable facility under
Medicaid. The family knew this would be devastating for their mother.
Her health was still good and she had many friends and comforts at the
assisted living.
The National Care Planning Council directed the caller
and his family to a more cooperative veterans service office that will
submit the claim and likely get it approved retroactively so that this
woman can get a check for roughly $40,000 worth of previous care costs
for which she was not reimbursed. In addition, she will likely get the
full benefit of $1,056 a month to help pay the cost of the assisted
living where she is happy.
These types of claims require medical evidence in order
to receive a rating for aid and attendance or housebound allowances.
These ratings must be received or certain non-medical expenses
associated with long term care are not deductible from income. Special
rules also allow for deducting the annual anticipated cost of
month-to-month long term care from household income in order to meet
the income test. This special treatment requires special documentation
and evidence. In addition, those households with substantial assets
will be denied for a Pension income unless those assets are below a
certain level determined for each case by VA. The personal residence,
personal vehicles and personal property are exempted from this asset
test. Finally, evidence must be supplied every year in January that the
anticipated costs for the previous year were actually incurred or VA
will likely demand for its money back. The National Care Planning
Council has compiled the necessary forms, rules and information about
claims together in one book titled “How to Apply for the Veterans Aid & Attendance Pension Benefit.”
This book contains information about how a typical
applicant receives a successful pension award. VA often tells callers
to go ahead and fill out the application but generally provides no
information on the special treatment of annualization of anticipated
recurring medical costs. The claims form also contains no information
on this important issue. One simply has to know how to do it. This
crucial information can make the difference between a successful award
and being declined. All necessary forms for filing a claim are in the
book.
Veterans who have substantial assets may need to do
some estate planning and realigning of assets to qualify. An expert in
this area should be sought to help with the application in order to
avoid lengthy delays in awarding a benefit or a possible denial of
benefits. For a list of individuals or companies in your area who
understand how to get this benefit go to http://www.longtermcarelink.net/ref_veterans_consultants.htm
To learn more about this benefit go to http://www.veteransaidbenefit.org
This guest post is courtesy of the National Care Planning Council.
Recent Comments