The Veteran's Administration offers Aid & Attendance (AA) Pension benefits to veterans or their singles surviving spouses who require assistance with their daily living. The applicants must show that they cannot function completely on their own. Aid and Attendant benefits can be used to pay for care in the home, professional home care services, assisted living, or for a nursing home.
In order to qualify for the Aid and Attendance benefit, a veteran must have served on active duty, at least ninety (90) days, during a period of war. In addition, the veteran must have received a discharge other than dishonorable. If the veteran is younger than sixty-five (65) year old, the veteran must be totally disabled. A disability is not required for veterans sixty-five (65) and older, and single surviving spouses. The Veteran or widow must also have limited income and assets to qualify for the benefit. However, households with higher income and assets may still be eligible for AA benefits if they can establish that one or more members of the household are incurring high costs of long term care for services such as adult day care, assisted living, nursing home, or home-care providers.
A rating for 'aid and attendance' allows VA to pay additional benefits beyond the Pension benefit ceiling to help cover additional costs associated with added disability. Authorization of aid and attendance benefits is established in certain circumstances. For example, if the claimant is blind or nearly blind or if evidence establishes the claimant is a patient in a nursing home. Criteria to determine the need for aid and attendance includes inability to dress or undress oneself; inability of claimant to feed oneself; or incapacity.
Attorneys are not permitted to charge fees for assisting clients with completing and filing applications. Attorney fees can only be charged for VA benefits planning, reviewing eligibility status, creating a plan to become eligible or handling an appeal after denial. |
