Veteran's Benefits

A major area of our practice is helping clients with Medicaid planning, so that they receive the full amount of benefits to which they are entitled. In looking for sources of payment for healthcare we have found that many clients are not aware of the benefits which may be available to veterans or the widows or widowers of veterans.

The Veteran's Administration offers benefits known as "non-service-connected disability benefits." Even if a veteran was not injured during military service, benefits may still be available.

The benefits include a "low-income pension," "housebound benefits," and "aid and attendance." Aid and attendance provides funds, up to $1,842 monthly, for additional care to assist with activities of daily living, in the home, in an assisted living facility, or in a skilled nursing facility.

To be entitled to receive aid and attendance, you or your spouse must have served at least ninety consecutive days in the military, one day of which must have been during a war period. You or your spouse must have received other than a dishonorable discharge, and must be in need of the assistance of another individual, in your home, in an assisted living facility, or in a nursing facility. You or your spouse must meet the income and asset qualifications, as determined by the Veteran's Administration.

The widow or widower of a deceased veteran may also be entitled to receive benefits.

If you have a medical problem which may result in a stay in nursing home, or which requires expensive home health assistance, let us see if we can secure benefits for you from the VA.

In planning for entitlement to VA benefits, as in the case of Medicaid planning, time is critical. In the case of VA benefits, planning may be easier than in the case of Medicaid qualification.

This is one of a series of Notes to Our Friends from Haddleton & Associates, a law firm specializing in estate planning, probate, taxation, and elder law.

Russell E. Haddleton