Common Questions About The Veterans Aid & Attendance Benefits

What is the Aid & Attendance Pension and How Can a Veteran Qualify?

The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) operates the Aid and Attendance (A&A) pension. Unfortunately, only a small number of eligible American veterans over 65 and their spouses know about it. With over 30 percent of Americans being wartime veterans, many families could be enjoying the benefits of the assistance available to help them pay for quality care.

The United States Department of Veteran Affairs helps veterans along with their families by using pension benefit programs to provide supplemental income. U.S. military veterans along with their surviving spouses are eligible to receive the pensions.

Veterans along with widowed spouses that need aid and assistance may be eligible for the extra pension benefits for care assistance either in an assisted living community or at home. Honorably discharged wartime veterans that have 90 days of active duty, as well as any surviving spouses, are eligible to receive the Aid & Assistance pension.

To qualify for the Aid & Assistance pension, a physician has to establish that you need daily assistance with basic living requirements, such as eating, cooking, bathing, and dressing. The Aid & Assistance pension offers substantial financial support to veterans or surviving spouses.

What If Your Request for Benefits is Declined?

A detailed explanation will accompany the denial of the benefits. Appealing is something not recommended. A better approach would be to file a form that allows you to provide more information.

Do You Need to be Living in an Assisted Living Facility to Apply?

Any home care service or care facility is eligible if the veteran is in need of assistance with daily living activities such as eating and dressing.

Do the VA Benefits Apply to the Family Members Caring for the Senior?

No, they don’t. If a member of the family is the one acting as a caregiver, the applicant should be the one paying the member of the household as if he or she would any other non-family caregiver. It is the responsibility of the family member to claim the income on their taxes.

I Have Found Somebody Willing to Expedite the Process But at a Fee. Is This Legal?

No. The truth is that nobody can charge a veteran or any surviving spouse for completing or even expediting VA pension paperwork.

Many veterans and their surviving spouses do not know about the Aid & Attendance pension. If you are a veteran or a surviving veteran’s spouse that requires assistance with daily living tasks, contact us to learn more.