This past Memorial Day got me thinking about our nation’s veterans; particularly the older veterans that I have the privilege of meeting in my field of Elder Law. As you know, there has been plenty of media attention paid to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or the “VA” regarding what it does, or perhaps what it does not do, for those it’s supposed to assist. In fact, the care for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan was said to be so indefensible that the Chief of the VA under the Bush Administration quit. Regardless of your politics, there is one program that the VA offers, which deserves more attention as it can greatly improve the quality of life of many of our nation’s truly deserving veterans. The program is called “Aid and Attendance” and unfortunately, many veterans know nothing about it.
The Aid and Attendance program is referred to as a “Special Pension” in VA terms which means that it is truly a “pension” and not dependent upon the veteran’s “service-related” injury or condition. In short, most veterans who apply for the Aid and Attendance program will qualify. Furthermore, the pension is not only for the veteran himself, but also for his spouse (or the veteran’s surviving spouse) who requires assistance.
The requirements basically, are that the veteran (or his spouse, or both the veteran and his spouse) require additional help with activities of daily living; defined as eating, bathing, dressing, mobilizing, cooking, cleaning, etc (check out this site for a thorough list; in pdf format 
).
In addition to the assistance with activities of daily living, the veteran must also meet certain financial requirements, as well. If the veteran and/or his spouse qualifies and is entitled to this extra assistance with the aforementioned activities, he is awarded an extra pension of up to $1632 per month; the spouse of a veteran can qualify for up to $1,055 per month; and the veteran and his spouse who both require assistance can receive up to $1,949 per month. The monies can be used for homecare services, nursing home care or even assisted living facilities, who provide assistance with activities of daily living.
Suffice it to say, the program is extremely underutilized by our nation’s veterans and could mean the difference between a veteran being forced to move into a state funded nursing home or living out his days in his own home or in an assisted living facility, in dignity.
For an excellent resource that outlines the requirements in more detail (and that was far more helpful than the United States Department of Veteran’s Affairs own website,) please visit VeteranAid.org, a non-profit set up for veterans and their families to inform them about the Aid and Attendance program. If you find the application process as cumbersome as dealing with the VA, you can even hire an Aid and Attendant Consultant to offer you advice on how to file the claim. (True to its reputation of less-than-helpful to the veterans it is designed to assist, the VA has made it a crime to actually hire someone to submit the claim on behalf of the veteran. But, I digress…)
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