What Is the Veterans Aid and Attendance Pension Benefit?

Understanding VA Pension and VA Pension with Aid and Attendance
"Aid and attendance" is a commonly used term for a little-known veterans' disability income. The official title of this benefit is "Pension." The reason for using "aid and attendance" to refer to Pension is that many veterans or their single surviving spouses can become eligible if they have a regular need for the aid and attendance of a caregiver or if they are residing in an Assisted Living Community. Evidence of this need for care must be certified by VA as a "rating." With a rating, certain veterans or their surviving spouses can now qualify for Pension. Pension is also available to low income veteran households without a rating, but it is a lesser dollar amount.

Eligibility Rules for Pension

To receive Pension, a veteran must have served on active duty, at least 90 days, during a period of war. There must be an honorable discharge. Single surviving spouses of such veterans are also eligible. If younger than 65, the veteran must be totally disabled. If age 65 and older, there is no requirement for disability. There is no disability requirement for a single surviving spouse.

The veteran household cannot have income -- adjusted for un-reimbursed medical expenses -- exceeding the Maximum Allowable Pension Rate-- MAPR -- for that veteran's Pension income category. If the adjusted income exceeds MAPR, there is no benefit. If adjusted income is less than the MAPR, the veteran receives a Pension income that is equal to the difference between MAPR and the household income adjusted for un-reimbursed medical expenses. The Pension income is calculated, based on 12 months of future household income, but paid monthly.

The Special Case for Long Term Care Costs
A special provision for calculating Pension income, allows household income to be reduced by 12 months worth of future, recurring medical expenses. Normally, income is only reduced by medical expenses incurred in the month of application. These allowable, annualized medical expenses are such things as insurance premiums, the cost of home care, the cost of paying any person to provide care, the cost of adult day care, the cost of assisted living and the cost of a nursing home facility. In most cases, these expenses are only deductible if there is a rating.

This special provision can allow veteran households earning more than the annual MAPR to qualify for Pension. As an example, a veteran household earning $6,000 a month could still qualify for Pension if the veteran is paying $4,500 to $6,000 a month for nursing home costs. The applicant must submit appropriate evidence for a rating and for recurring costs in order to qualify for this special provision. VA normally does not tell applicants about this special treatment of medical expenses or how to qualify for it. Our book provides ample information on this special treatment and provides appropriate forms to present medical and cost evidence in the most favorable manner.

There is also an asset test to qualify for Pension. Any asset or investment that could be easily converted into income might disqualify the claimant. An asset ceiling of $80,000 is often cited in the media as being the test. The $80,000 has to do with VA internal filing requirements and is not an actual test. In reality, there is no dollar amount for the test and any level of assets could block the award. The asset test ultimately becomes a subjective decision made by the veterans service representative, processing the application.

A home, used as a residence, vehicles and difficult-to-sell property are generally excluded from the asset test. VA will allow assets to be transferred or converted to income in order to meet the asset test. There is no look back penalty for transferring assets as there is with Medicaid. There are specific rules governing transfers of assets and what constitutes income from assets and it must be done correctly.

According to the VA, the average processing time for a claim is 177 days -- almost 6 months.

For more information on VA Pensions go to: http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/pension/vetpen.htm

Need more information? Do you have questions? Please call our Admissions Director at either Northampton ( 610-262-4300 ) or Saucon Valley ( 610-814-2700 ).

Call us to be placed on the mailing list so that we can contact you for the next FREE Veterans Benefits Information Seminar hosted at our communities.

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Or we suggest that you contact your local Veterans Affairs Officer and schedule an appointment, to assist you in applying for these benefits.

A LIST OF PENNSYLVANIA'S VETERANS AFFAIRS OFFICES BY COUNTY IS IN LINK BELOW. http://www.dmva.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/county_directors_for_veterans_affairs/11384

  Lehigh County Veterans Affairs Office: Director, Thomas Dye

  Northampton County Veterans Affairs Office: Director, David Graf