The
Department of Veterans Affairs provides three types of
long term care benefits for veterans.
The
first type is benefits provided to veterans who have service-related
disabilities.
These
medically necessary services include home care, hospice,
respite care, assisted living, domiciliary care, geriatric
assessments and nursing home care. In order to receive the
services, a veteran must be enrolled in VA's health care
system. Veterans with service-connected disabilities
have priority for health care enrollment acceptance.
Some
of these services may be offered to veterans in the health
care system who do not have service-connected disabilities
but who may qualify because of low income or because they
are receiving pension income from VA. These recipients may
have to provide out-of-pocket co-pays or the services may
only be available if the regional hospital has funds to
cover them.
Currently,
veterans desiring to join the health care system may be
refused application because their income is too high or
they do not qualify under other enrollment criteria. Increased
demand in recent years for services and lack of congressional
funding have forced VA to allow only certain classes of
veterans to join the health care system.
The
second type of benefit is state veterans homes.
The
Veterans Administration in conjunction with the states helps
build and support state veterans homes. Money is provided
by the Federal Government to help with construction, and
a subsidy of $67.71 a day is provided for each veteran
using these nursing homes. These homes are generally available
for any veteran and sometimes the nonveteran spouse and
are run by the states, often with the help of contract management.
Be advised, there may be waiting lists in some states.
Most
state homes offer nursing home care but some may offer assisted
living, domiciliary (a form of supported independent living),
and adult day care.
State
veterans homes are not free but are subsidized and the cost
could be significantly less than a comparable facility in
the private sector. Some of these homes can accept Medicaid
payments.
The
third type of benefits for veterans is disability payments.
These benefits include Compensation, Pension, survivors
death benefits associated with compensation and Death Pension.
Compensation
is designed to award the veteran a certain amount of monthly
income to compensate for potential loss of income in the
private sector due to a disability or injury or illness
incurred in the service. In order to receive compensation
a veteran has to have evidence of a service-connected disability.
Most veterans who are receiving this benefit were awarded
an amount based on a percentage of disability when they
left the service.
However,
some veterans may have a record of being exposed to extreme
cold, having an in-service non-disabling injury, having
tropical diseases, tuberculosis or other incidents or exposures
that at the time may not have caused any disability but
years later have resulted in medical problems. In addition,
some veterans may be receiving compensation but their condition
has worsened and they may qualify for a a higher disability
rating. Veterans mentioned above may qualify for a first-time
benefit or receive an increase in compensation amount. Applications
should be made to see if they can receive an award. There
is no income or asset test for compensation and the benefit
is nontaxable.
Pension
is available to all active-duty veterans who served at least
90 days during a period of war. There is no need to have
a service-connected disability to receive pension. To be
eligible the applicant must be totally disabled if he or
she is younger than 65. Proof of disability is not required
for applicants age 65 or over. Apparently, being old is
evidence in itself of disability.
The
purpose of this benefit is to provide supplemental income
to disabled or older veterans who have a low income. If
the veterans income exceeds the pension amount then there
is no award. However, income can be adjusted for unreimbursed
medical expenses and this allows veterans with household
income larger than the pension amount to qualify for a monthly
benefit.
Compensation
and pension claims are submitted on the same form and VA
will consider paying either benefit. Generally, for applications
associated with the cost of home care, assisted living or
nursing home care, the pension benefit is a better option.
All
active-duty veterans who served at least 90 days during
a period of war are eligible for pension and additional
disability allowances -- aid and attendance or housebound
allowances. Surviving single spouses of these veterans are
also eligible for lesser benefits and for the allowances.
Veterans'
service would include World War II, the Korean Conflict,
the Vietnam Conflict Period and the Gulf War conflict.
Pension
can pay up to $1,800 a month to help offset the costs associated
with home care, assisted living, nursing homes and other
unreimbursed medical expenses. The amount of payment varies
with the type of care, recipient income and the marital
status of the recipient. There are income and asset tests
to qualify.
VA claims
this benefit is only for low income veterans but a quirk
in the way the benefit is calculated for recurring medical
expenses (long term care costs associated with home care,
assisted living or nursing homes) could allow veteran households
earning between $2,500 and $5,000 or more a month to qualify.
Estimates
are that up to 30% of all Americans over the age of 65 might
be eligible for a pension benefit under the right circumstances.
This
article was provided by the National Elder Care Planning
Council as part of the "Elder Care Planning" series.
