Veterans Aid and Attendance Pension Benefit
Watching a loved one deal with illness, and infirmity, or struggle to get around because of their age is not easy. When it’s a veteran in the family, no matter how old he or she is, when they are sick, injured, or have a long-term illness, it can make getting around too difficult. It can place a lot of extra pressure on family members and friends and still that veteran might not get the proper level of care and support he or she needs.
Depending on the veteran’s financial situation or the ability of family members and friends to help out monetarily, they may feel like there are few options available. So where can a veteran turn when he or she needs some type of extra care at home, whether it’s for an extended period of time or short-term care?
They should always turn to home care agencies as opposed to hiring an independent caregiver, but what about affordability? For that, depending on their service they should consider looking into the Aid and Attendance Benefit.
There are two key benefits available to veterans of all ages that can pay for home care support. The Homebound pension is available to those veterans who are essentially homebound, requiring a lot of extra care just to perform the basic tasks of everyday living. The Aid and Attendance Benefit is available to qualifying veterans who can highlight a specific need for home care support, but who may have the ability to do certain activities outside the house as well.
In order to qualify for the Aid and Attendance Benefit, aside from being able to prove home care is absolutely necessary, the veteran needs to have served at least one day during an active time of combat. This doesn’t mean they have to have fought in a combat situation. They could have been stationed on the other side of the world from combat, but as long as they served during that combat period.
They also need to have served at least 90 days active duty in one of the major branches of the United States military. Their assets and income levels have to fall within specific threshold levels set by the VA, which can change from year to year so it’s important to verify what they happen to be now.
It’s a good idea for veterans to be aware that the income and asset threshold levels for the Aid and Attendance Benefit are often different than what they are for other pensions, so even if the veteran was denied a pension application previously, they may still qualify for this one.
For more information and to learn about veterans aid and attendance pension benefit, contact Veteran’s Home Care at (888) 314-6075.
