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Do You Receive Aid and Attendance Payments?
If you served in this nation’s armed forces during a time of war, you may qualify to receive Aid and Attendance payments from the Veterans Affairs Department (VA). If you are eligible for Aid and Attendance, a Waco VA Aid and Attendance lawyer can help you receive those payments.
As of 2023, a private room in a Texas nursing home can cost over $7,000 a month. The cost for a semi-private room may surpass $5,000 a month. How can a veteran of modest means pay for this type of long-term care? For many veterans in Texas, VA Aid and Attendance is the solution.
A deceased veteran’s surviving wife or husband may also qualify. But if you’re already receiving Aid and Attendance, could you lose your eligibility and your monthly payments? How often should you reevaluate – with your lawyer’s help – your eligibility for VA Aid and Attendance?
Are You Eligible to Receive Aid and Attendance?
In order to qualify for Aid and Attendance payments, a veteran will need a minimum of ninety days active service, and one of the days must have been during a war: the Second World War, Korea or Vietnam, or the Gulf War.
To receive Aid and Attendance, a veteran need not have seen combat and cannot have a dishonorable discharge. If a veteran is deceased, the surviving wife or husband may be eligible to receive Aid and Attendance payments if that veteran would have been eligible while still alive.
Veterans under age 65 must have a 100 percent disability rating to qualify, but the disability need not be service-related. Applications must include proof of the 100 percent disability rating. A surviving spouse also must prove a medical necessity for Aid and Attendance.
Aid and Attendance applicants must also meet one or more of these requirements: be bedridden or in bed most of the day; need assistance with eating, dressing, and bathing; reside in a nursing home facility due to a disability; or have eyesight of 5/200 or less in both eyes.
Are There Asset and Income Requirements?
Why should you reevaluate your eligibility for Aid and Attendance – with the guidance of a Waco VA Aid and Attendance attorney – on an annual basis? One reason is because asset and income limits and Aid and Attendance payment amounts are adjusted every year.
To receive Aid and Attendance, a recipient’s annual income cannot exceed his or her Maximum Annual Pension Rate as set by the Department of Veterans Affairs. As for assets, in 2023, a recipient’s assets cannot exceed $150,537, although some assets may be exempt.
Processing and approval times for initial applications vary, but for most applicants, approval takes about nine months. The first Aid and Attendance payment is a lump sum to pay you for the time from the application date to the approval date.
These are the standard payment amounts for 2023: A veteran who is single and is paid Aid and Attendance receives $2,229 a month. Surviving spouses are paid $1,432 per month. Married veterans get $2,642 a month, and two veterans married to each other receive $3,536 per month.
How Are Your Assets and Income Calculated?
In order to reevaluate accurately your eligibility for Aid and Attendance each year, it is important to understand how your assets and income are calculated by the VA. For example, the income rules aren’t based on a veteran’s gross income. A portion of a veteran’s assets may also be exempt.
Your car and home, for example, usually are not considered assets. However, when you apply for Aid and Attendance, there’s a lookback period of three years to determine whether you’ve transferred assets during the previous three years to satisfy the financial requirements for Aid and Attendance.
Veterans who made asset transfers during the lookback period must disclose these transactions when applying for Aid and Attendance. To ensure that Aid and Attendance is there when you need it, you should have the guidance and advice of a Waco VA Aid and Attendance attorney.
What Does Aid and Attendance Cover?
Aid and Attendance helps veterans cover the cost of in-home care or the costs of living in a nursing home facility or an assisted living community. This may include rent as well as other services and care provided by the community or caregiver.
However, Aid and Attendance does not pay medical bills or cover prescription drugs or normal housing costs unrelated to long-term care. Because Aid and Attendance is for veterans who are disabled, it does not pay for the costs of independent living facilities.
How Will an Attorney Help You?
You should review your eligibility at least annually to make sure that you are still qualified for Aid and Attendance and compliant with current Department of Veterans Affairs regulations. You also may need to review your eligibility due to changes in your own personal or financial situation.
A Waco VA Aid and Attendance lawyer can help you identify your exemptions, protect your assets, and maintain your Aid and Attendance eligibility. The rules can be complicated and confusing, but your lawyer will help you maintain your eligibility for Aid and Attendance.
If you choose, after a discussion and review of your needs, options, and financial situation, your lawyer can also help you prepare a personalized, long-term healthcare plan that protects your assets – and your loved ones – and meets your long-term healthcare needs.
If You’ve Served Our Nation, Let Rainey & Rainey Serve You
If you are entitled to Aid and Attendance, but you have not applied for payments, consult an attorney at Rainey & Rainey. We have a wealth of experience working with our nation’s veterans, and we will help you acquire the Aid and Attendance payments that you are entitled to.
James Rainey, a founding lawyer at Rainey & Rainey, served as an Army Reserve JAG officer. He is committed to fighting for veterans and their rights. Backed by the experienced team at Rainey & Rainey, he will work aggressively and effectively to obtain your Aid and Attendance payments.
If you’ve served your country honorably, let Rainey & Rainey serve you. Our offices are located in Waco and Georgetown, and we advise veterans throughout the state. To learn more, to reevaluate your Aid and Attendance eligibility, or if you have been denied Aid and Attendance payments, contact Rainey & Rainey at once by calling our law offices at 254-457-5083.
