In A Boomer’s Guide to Long-term Care, I’ve included a chapter with e-mails I received after an article on long-term care insurance ran in an online publication.
Here’s one of them …
Bart C., 78, from Philadelphia, PA writes:
I’m a veteran. The VA will pay for my care.
My reply: I’m all for helping vets, Bart. And as far as I’m concerned we don’t do enough. But let’s be practical … the facilities are government-run, and there’s a waiting list to get in.
Plus, the VA doesn’t give out long-term care benefits unless you:
• Have a 70 percent service-connected (SC) disability, or
• Are rated with a 60 percent SC disability and are unemployable, or
• Are rated with a 60 percent SC disability and are permanently and totally disabled.
So this tells me that if you’re a vet without a severe service-connected disability, you won’t get VA LTC benefits.
However, you might be able to get Aid and Attendance (A&A) benefits or Housebound benefits.
A&A is a benefit paid in addition to monthly pension. So you first must be eligible for the pension.
A veteran may be eligible for A&A when:
• The veteran requires the aid of another person in order to perform personal functions required in everyday living, such as bathing, feeding, dressing, attending to the wants of nature, adjusting prosthetic devices, or protecting himself/herself from the hazards of his/her daily environment, or …
• The veteran is bedridden, in that his/her disability or disabilities requires that he/she remain in bed apart from any prescribed course of convalescence or treatment, or …
• The veteran is a patient in a nursing home due to mental or physical incapacity, or …
• The veteran is blind, or so nearly blind as to have corrected visual acuity of 5/200 or less, in both eyes, or concentric contraction of the visual field to 5 degrees or less.
ike A&A, Housebound benefits may not be paid without eligibility to pension.
A veteran may be eligible for Housebound benefits when:
• The veteran has a single permanent disability evaluated as 100-percent disabling and, due to such disability, he/she is permanently and substantially confined to his/her immediate premises, or …
• The veteran has a single permanent disability evaluated as 100-percent disabling and, another disability, or disabilities, evaluated as 60 percent or more disabling
You can find more information, including how to apply, on the Veterans Affairs Web site at: http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/pension/vetpen.htm#1.
And for more tips on how to protect your wealth from the skyrocketing costs of long-term care, pick up a copy of A Boomer’s Guide to Long-term Care.
Best wishes,
George
Here’s one of them …
Bart C., 78, from Philadelphia, PA writes:
I’m a veteran. The VA will pay for my care.
My reply: I’m all for helping vets, Bart. And as far as I’m concerned we don’t do enough. But let’s be practical … the facilities are government-run, and there’s a waiting list to get in.
Plus, the VA doesn’t give out long-term care benefits unless you:
• Have a 70 percent service-connected (SC) disability, or
• Are rated with a 60 percent SC disability and are unemployable, or
• Are rated with a 60 percent SC disability and are permanently and totally disabled.
So this tells me that if you’re a vet without a severe service-connected disability, you won’t get VA LTC benefits.
However, you might be able to get Aid and Attendance (A&A) benefits or Housebound benefits.
A&A is a benefit paid in addition to monthly pension. So you first must be eligible for the pension.
A veteran may be eligible for A&A when:
• The veteran requires the aid of another person in order to perform personal functions required in everyday living, such as bathing, feeding, dressing, attending to the wants of nature, adjusting prosthetic devices, or protecting himself/herself from the hazards of his/her daily environment, or …
• The veteran is bedridden, in that his/her disability or disabilities requires that he/she remain in bed apart from any prescribed course of convalescence or treatment, or …
• The veteran is a patient in a nursing home due to mental or physical incapacity, or …
• The veteran is blind, or so nearly blind as to have corrected visual acuity of 5/200 or less, in both eyes, or concentric contraction of the visual field to 5 degrees or less.
ike A&A, Housebound benefits may not be paid without eligibility to pension.
A veteran may be eligible for Housebound benefits when:
• The veteran has a single permanent disability evaluated as 100-percent disabling and, due to such disability, he/she is permanently and substantially confined to his/her immediate premises, or …
• The veteran has a single permanent disability evaluated as 100-percent disabling and, another disability, or disabilities, evaluated as 60 percent or more disabling
You can find more information, including how to apply, on the Veterans Affairs Web site at: http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/pension/vetpen.htm#1.
And for more tips on how to protect your wealth from the skyrocketing costs of long-term care, pick up a copy of A Boomer’s Guide to Long-term Care.
Best wishes,
George
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