Received from Ray Fritz,
National USSVI Chaplain:
--- Begin forwarded message:
Subject: VA benefit, care for aged Veterans and/or spouse.
I encourage you to please forward this e-mail
to other shipmates. We never know when this little known benefit could be of
value to a shipmate or spouse.
If you are or have a family member who is a veteran or spouse of a
veteran that needs extra care look at this info from the VA.
http://www.vvachapter1075.org/vietnam-vet-help-page
A Little-Known Benefit for Aging
Veterans
As veterans age, many are unfamiliar with a benefit that can help pay
for care at home or in assisted living or a nursing home.
Here's a riddle: When is a government benefit that
pays for caregivers, assisted living and a nursing home not a benefit? When
hardly any people know they're entitled to it.
That seems to be the story with a Department of Veterans Affairs
benefit called the Aid and Attendance and Housebound Improved Pension benefit,
known as A&A, which can cover the costs of caregivers in the home
(including sons and daughters who are paid to be caregivers, though not
spouses) or be used for assisted living or a nursing home.
The benefit is not insignificant: up to $2,019 monthly for a veteran
and spouse, and up to $1,094 for the widow of a veteran.
Surprised that you've never heard of it? You're not alone.
"It's probably one of the lesser-known benefits," said
Randal Noller, a Veterans Affairs spokesman in Washington. Of the 1.7 million
World War II veterans alive as of 2011, who were in need of caregiving
assistance and thus eligible, only 38,076 veterans and 38,685 surviving spouses
were granted the A&A benefit that year, according to Mr. Noller.
Mr. Noller is not the first to acknowledge A&A is a well-kept
secret. Jim Nicholson, former secretary of Veterans Affairs, said in a December
2006 news release that "not everyone is aware of his or her potential
eligibility" for the program, which he called an "underused"
benefit.
Not much has changed. A search of the Veterans Affairs Web site for
evidence of public information efforts in the six years since came up blank.
"The sad thing is, it's been an entitlement for 61 years, but
it's sat idle - the V.A. employees just haven't been educated about it,"
said Debbie Burak of Midlothian, Va. She said she repeatedly called department
offices on behalf of her father, a World War II veteran, and her mother, who
became homeless after their house caught fire and their injuries required
extensive care. She was told there were no benefits they were entitled to.
(Indeed, when I called two Baltimore-area Veterans Affairs offices for my
father, a World War II veteran, no one had heard of this benefit or any benefit
that paid for care givers or assisted living or nursing homes.)
"My parents' end of life was so difficult. They lost everything,
were living in a terrible hotel, ran up every credit card we had," Ms.
Burak said. "My mother begged us not to cremate her, but there was no
money for a burial; we had no choice."
It was only after her father died that Ms. Burak discovered her
parents would have been entitled to as much as $160,000 over the last decade
through the Aid and Attendance benefit. She applied, but no money arrived
before her mother died.
Mr. Noller said the program's low visibility might be an effect of
the size of the department. "The V.A. is the second-largest agency in the
federal government, and you can't expect everybody to know everything," he
said, referring to the agency's work force.
To bridge the information gap, Ms. Burak introduced VeteranAid.org, a
Web site and a 501(c)(3) charity, in 2005, to provide information about A&A
eligibility and how to apply.
To qualify, a veteran need not have suffered a service-related
injury. He or she only had to have clocked at least one day of his or her
90-day minimum military service during a time of war and need care giving for
activities of daily living.
Applying can be confusing and arduous. If you know the program's name
and search the Veterans Affairs Web site for Aid and Attendance, the first page
states, among other things, that you are not eligible for A&A unless you
already qualify for a basic Veterans Affairs pension - for which you have to be
"totally disabled."
That's more than a little misleading.
"What people don't know is that when wartime veterans turn 65,
the V.A. automatically classifies them as 'totally disabled,' " Ms. Burak
said. And if they meet income and asset criteria, they are eligible for a basic
pension.
The A&A benefit can be more than 50 percent higher than the basic
veteran's pension ($24,239 annually for a veteran and spouse with A&A,
versus $16,051 for a basic pension). The income and asset cutoffs are also
higher than for A&A benefits.
Karen McCarty, of Fort Worth, is one of the lucky ones who applied
for A&A - and got it. She heard about it when the assisted living facility
where her father-in-law, Robert McCarty, 92, was living, held a seminar on it.
Ms. McCarty, a former certified public accountant, started
researching the application process at the Veterans Affairs site, but, she
said, "the VeteranAid.org site was much clearer." She found all the
forms she needed, and her father-in-law received the first check in record time
- six months.
Not all Veterans Affairs officers are in the dark about A&A.
After Annette Cadena's parents were in a car accident and moved to a
nursing home in their tiny hometown, Fossil, Ore., it was the local Veterans
Affairs officer, Paul Conroy (now retired), who saw her on the street and
mentioned that her parents might qualify.
"I was skeptical, to be honest," said Ms. Cadena.
"My husband did two tours in Iraq and has worked 30 years for the
Washington State Army National Guard coordinating with the V.A. to help
veterans, and he had never heard of it."
Still, she applied in August 2009, and nine months later her
parents started receiving the maximum $2,019 per month.
The benefit was a lifesaver. That is, until her father, Clinton Ray,
died on Aug. 5. The payments to her mother, Bessie Ray, stopped, even though
widows of veterans are also entitled to this benefit.
"They cut her off cold," Ms. Cadena said, and told her she
would have to apply all over again as a widow, which could take 9 to 18 months.
"My mother said, 'Oh, my God, are they going to kick me out of the
home?'" Ms. Cadena recalled.
Still, when the benefit comes through, it can make a real difference.
Marcia Hruska's mother, 85, had run through all her savings after seven years
of worsening Alzheimer's and round-the-clock care in her apartment in Coconut
Creek, Fla. Assisted living was the next step, but Ms. Hruska didn't know how
they would pay for it, with Social Security her only income.
"One of the assisted living facilities we visited asked if my
dad had been in the service," and mentioned A&A, Ms. Hruska recalled.
So she filled out the 26-page Veterans Affairs application - which used to be
only four pages - and on Sept. 1, six months after applying, she received the
first monthly check for $1,019. "This relieves a lot of tension," Ms.
Hruska said.
One warning note: Scams abound. The department forbids anyone to
charge to help veterans fill out these challenging forms, yet a growing number
of companies - many of which, on a Web search for "Aid and
Attendance," pop up with waving flags and red-white-and-blue banners -
offer to "help" veterans fill out the forms free, then charge
thousands of dollars for financial consultation.
And, Ms. Burak warns: "Financial planners at assisted living
facilities are putting on seminars about the A&A benefit - but it isn't out
of the goodness of their hearts. They are trolling for residents who have too
much money to qualify, to get them to move assets into annuity products that
don't count as income or assets and yield big commissions." (This is
possible because, unlike Medicaid, with its five-year look back, Veterans
Affairs has no look back on asset transfers.)
The department does not reveal maximum allowable assets. But $80,000 (the
house and a car are exempt from this total) seems to be in the ballpark, though
someone with more assets could still qualify if expenses were very high,
according to Ms. Burak.
Income limits are not set in stone either. But the maximum is around
$20,000 to $23,000 after deducting costs for medical expenses, caregivers,
assisted living or nursing home fees. Some people are taking advantage of
A&A to protect assets for their heirs, Ms. McCarty said. Still, she said,
"it's a wonderful benefit."
