Little-Known Program Can Make Big Difference for Older Vets and Their Survivors

The A&A payments that her mother receives as the spouse of a veteran allow her to hire a private caregiver who comes into the facility daily to help with her care. Without that extra private help, Howell says, her mother probably would not be allowed to stay in the facility. 

“If that private caregiver went away, she would probably be asked to leave the skilled nursing community she is in. And then what would I do? I have no clue what I would do," says Howell, who lives in Rock Hill, S.C., not far from her mother. “It would be  awful. ’’

Howell says her brother-in-law, a Vietnam veteran with multiple health problems, also receives A&A payments that help him pay the cost of living in a local assisted living community. Without the payments, she said, he would have to move to a facility where he would be less comfortable.

Friel, at the VA, says that several factors probably keep potentially eligible veterans from applying for the benefit. One is that many people eligible for VA pensions and A&A haven’t had a reason to be in contact with the VA for many years, and it doesn’t occur to them to look into benefits that might help them when they are older. Another obstacle, he said, is that many veterans take pride in not asking for help from the government.

“Sometimes it’s the pride of the veteran. They got the GI bill and thought they didn’t want to apply for anything else,” he says. “Part of our job is to make them understand it’s not a handout. They served our country.”

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Gary Ochoa, Southern Region manager for the Arizona Department of Veterans Services, says his department tries hard to put out the word so veterans know about the program. “The grant can be a life-changing event,’’ says Ochoa. “The big problem we have is getting the word out. A lot of our World War II, Korean and Vietnam War vets are low-income and have a medical need for additional assistance and, unfortunately, do not know about the program.’’

Amy Goyer, AARP’s Family and Caregiving expert, says A&A was crucial in paying part of the cost of caring for her father, a World War II and Korean War veteran who suffered from Alzheimer’s for 12 years and died this year at 94.

“My dad was a college professor. He had two pensions and had long-term care insurance,” she says. “By the time he died virtually his entire income … went to his care … He was better-prepared and -equipped than most, and it still wasn’t enough.”

Goyer says one way to get started finding out about the program is to call the VA’s caregiver line (855-260-3274) or go to www.caregiver.va.gov.

Friel and other experts strongly advise working with representatives who have been accredited by the VA. Most accredited representatives work for veterans service organizations (VSOs). A list of VSOs at VA regional benefits offices can be found at www.benefits.va.gov/vso/varo.asp.

One reason to seek help from accredited veterans service offices is that the eligibility criteria can be hard to figure out, and making bad financial decisions in an effort to qualify for the program can be costly.

“The rules are incredibly complex,’’ says Ryan Gallucci, director of the VFW's National Veterans Service. “If you’re approached by someone for estate planning, instead seek out accredited help.”

Experts in government and veterans' organizations warn that there have been numerous instances of people trying to take advantage of elderly veterans and spouses who might qualify for A&A. In some cases, companies will promise to come up with financial strategies to help veterans reduce their income or net worth so they can qualify for the program, but those schemes don’t always work and often involve commissions or other financial benefits to the people selling them to vets. In other cases, veterans might face penalties if they follow bad advice.

Tarter, at the Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs, cites one case of a woman who was talked into setting up a trust so she could qualify for Aid and Attendance, only to be rejected by the government, which determined she and her husband weren’t eligible. The couple then had to pay a $16,000 penalty as a result of getting back into the trust. In other cases, she says, companies sell veterans insurance and annuities to hide their assets, even if those products don’t make sense for very elderly people.

“Veterans get sucked in by guys who come in on the pretense of filing for A&A,’’ she says. 

New VA rules that took effect last week are designed in part to avoid such scams by clarifying the eligibility requirements for the program. The new rules set a firm net worth limit ($123,600), replacing a more flexible approach in the past, and establish a three-year “look-back’’ provision that prevents people from quickly transferring assets in an effort to hide wealth and qualify for government benefits.  

Another change is that more medical expenses can be deducted from countable income. Tarter predicts that while some veterans may have a harder time qualifying for the program under the new rules, other veterans are likely to benefit from them.

Friel says that the VA is also trying to address another complaint people have had about the program in the past — that it’s very slow, taking many months for applications to be approved or rejected.

He says the average time to process claims for veterans pensions, including A&A, has been reduced over the past two years from 76 days to 62 days. The process can be expedited for veterans who are older or have a terminal illness.

Experts say veterans and their families should not be discouraged by the obstacles to an application, including the cumbersome paperwork that can be necessary to prove eligibility. They say that people who need extra time to gather records to support a claim should submit an “Intent to File” to the VA, even if they don’t have all their documents ready to support a claim. Once that form is filed, they can continue gathering paperwork, and if they are approved they can collect benefits retroactive to the date the form was filed. 

For information on Aid and Attendance, see the VA website.