VA Aid and Attendance
Aid and Attendance is a benefit available to veterans, their spouses, or widows.  This benefit is available to help offset some of the costs of nursing homes, assisted living communities, personal care homes, or homecare expenses.

Qualifications:

• Veteran, spouse or widow/er served during wartime, including those who served state side.
• Served at least 90 days of active service with one of those days being during wartime. Eligible dates are :
  4/21/1898-7/15/1903,  5/9/1916-11/11/1918, 12/07/1941-12/31/1946, 6/27/1950-1/31/1955, 8/5/1964-5/7/1975,  8/20/1990-present
• Received an honorable discharge- need to provide a copy of the Discharge Papers with the application
• The spouse must not have divorced the veteran.
• If the veteran has died and the widow remarries, there are some situations where they would still qualify.
• Must need some assistance with at least two activities of daily living such as bathing, meal preparation etc.,  This assistance does not mean that they require complete physical assistance, such as cuing with dressing, reminders to bathe, med monitoring, needs supervision, would qualify.
• Applicants must be receiving the assistance or have a doctor’s order before they can apply.  
• Benefits are retroactive to the application month date.
• There are some financial qualifications for those applying. HOWEVER, it is based on an adjusted income NOT the gross income.  To figure the adjusted income, medical expenses, insurance premiums, meds, and even the cost of the community where they are residing is taken into consideration.  Assets not included (exempt) are the applicant’s home, pensions, small life ins. policies, prepaid funeral expenses, and annuities in payout status.  There is no look back period at this current time.  If an applicant has greater than $25,000, in income after subtractions for expenses are made, a financial planner can assist them with investing today so they qualify tomorrow.  If the veteran exceeds the monthly income level after the adj. income is figured they still may qualify for benefits, the dollar amount is simply reduced dollar for dollar that they are over.   
  
  Approved VA Aid and Attendance

       Maximum Amounts for 2013

• $1,732 per month to a veteran
  $1,113 per month to a surviving spouse or $2,054 per month to a couple

This is paid directly to the applicant/responsible party as additional income, not to the community where they reside.

Approval is taking about 90-180 days.

Veterans Benefits Rates (2013)

Basic, Aid and Attendance, Housebound

Please note: The data below are expressed as annual and monthly figures. The Department of Veterans Affairs adjusted the benefits upwards by 1.7% from the 2012 levels. The DVA then posted the data as annual dollar amounts. The chart below expresses the annual benefit levels as calculated by the DVA;  monthly figures, may contain minor rounding errors.