Home Care for Veterans
The Aid and Attendance Benefit is an important pension for veterans of all ages to know about, especially if they begin requiring support and assistance at home. Not every veteran is going to qualify for this pension, but of nearly 20 million veterans living in the United States right now, fewer than 1 million may actually be aware it even exists (Forbes).
First, this is a pension program that was developed following World War I as a way to help soldiers returning home from combat receive the care they needed to cope with injuries and emotional trauma they faced in battle. It expanded through the years to provide financial assistance for veterans of all ages who had a specific need for home care services.
Here are four of the most important aspects to know about this particular pension.
1. Time of service.
In order to qualify, a veteran needs to have served a minimum of 90 days service in one of the major branches of the United States military. Their service needs to have been considered ‘active duty.’
2. Time of combat.
This is one of the most confusing aspects of this particular pension. This doesn’t mean the veteran needs to have served in a forward combat situation, having bullets flying all around them and being in peril for hours or even days on end.
It means at least one day of their active duty service needs to have fallen during a time of active combat, as defined by Congress. Generally speaking, that would include World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, or the Gulf War.
Currently, the Gulf War started in 1991 and does not have a closed end date.
3. A specific need for home care.
Any veteran looking at applying for the Aid and Attendance Benefit needs to be able to prove that home care is absolutely necessary for them at this time in their life. A doctor may have recommended home care for them due to their physical limitations or following a major medical emergency or surgery. If that’s the case, they should try to get a letter of recommendation from their doctor.
4. It can provide financial support for widows as well.
A widow of a veteran who may have otherwise qualified for the Aid and Attendance Benefit may also be eligible to receive financial assistance to pay for home care services. They wouldn’t receive the same amount, but it can be instrumental in helping to keep that widow safe and comfortable at home.
For more information and to learn about home care for veterans, contact Veteran’s Home Care at (888) 314-6075.
