The Aid and Attendance pension was set up for war time Veterans, their spouses and surviving spouses who are 65 and older and at the point in their lives when they are in need of care. I have seen these great people go from a limited income to an income worthy of allowing them to receive the care they so rightfully deserve either in their homes or in assisted living.
We have literally spoken to thousands of families, either the Veteran or their family, usually their children, about the Aid and Attendance pension. The surprising coincidence between these conversations is that they have never heard about the Aid and Attendance pension. They will tell me that mom and dad has been going to the VA for years and nothing was ever said to him or her about this.
We have been privileged to travel all over the United States sharing the good word about Aid and Attendance. Again, these great people have never heard about Aid and Attendance. This makes them a little skeptical as they feel this is something the VA should have told them about. As a reminder, the VA is under NO obligation to share this.
Aid and Attendance is a TAX FREE pension directly deposited into your bank account. These monies can be used for whatever needs you have, but typically are used to pay for care. Aid and Attendance does not affect your Social Security. The only thing it affects is that is will give you additional TAX FREE income each month.
Aid and Attendance has been a wonderful blessing to our Veterans and their spouses. Additionally, this alleviates a lot of stress that families are feeling financially and emotionally as the weight of caring for their loved ones is extremely lightened. In our experience we are typically seeing that the burden of care falls on the elder female sibling in the family and that many other siblings will not be involved which is very unfortunate.
As I speak with families, we want to get enough information over the phone to give us a good feel for each situation. Every family situation is different, so we try and get enough brief information up front to see if we need to proceed with any other information needed. We need to know war time status, need for care, expense for care, income and assets. This will give us a good idea if we need to go further with additional information to support the process.
Senior Care Associates has been consulting with families about Aid and Attendance for 5 years. We will only send in the application if we feel 100% confident that you will receive the Aid and Attendance pension. If we do not feel confident and that the timing is wrong or for whatever reason we will not file. Our staff has all worked in the senior field from Nursing Home Administrator, Assisted Living, Home Health and Hospice, Home Personal Care and Care Consulting. Our staff is also supported by an Elder Law Attorney who is accredited through the VA and a Planner who deals with end of life financial decisions.