NOTICE TO ALL VETERANS

And Surviving Spouses of Veterans

Notice:  Christina Drumm Boyd, is an accredited agent for the Veterans Administration.  Before you or a loved one seeks advice or assistance on applying for Veterans benefits be sure that the agent is directly accredited to provide assistance.

 Do you need or have you thought about home health care, assisted living or nursing home care?

 If so, you may be eligible for up to $2,020 per month in additional income to pay for home health care, assisted living and nursing home care, even if you did not retire from the military.

Care Connect of Hampton Roads has successfully planned, applied for and obtained these benefits on behalf of many of our clients. There is a lot of mis-information being circulated concerning this benefit...  don't assume you won't qualify.

Basic information on benefit eligibility is listed below.

Please call us directly to schedule your individual consultation today. 

Call Us Today!

Phone: 757-271-4270

Toll Free: 1-855-872-2529

Business Hours: M-F 9AM to 5PM

E-mail: cdboyd@careconnecthr.com

Please contact us anytime! We look forward to hearing from you.

No Need to Be in Combat

The requirement is only to have served one day of 90 days of active duty during a period of war.  There is no requirement to have been in combat.  Except for cadets of military academies, active-duty training for active military, reservists or National Guard does not count as active-duty.  Certain non-service combatants during World War II also qualify even though they were not in the service.  This would include seagoing Merchant Marine, female pilots ferrying aircraft, certain Filipinos, civilian radio operators in combat zones and the list goes on to about 40 other categories of non-service combatants.

Concurrent Benefits

A veteran receiving military retirement pay may not receive compensation as well.  Retirement pay is reduced by the amount of compensation received.  A veteran receiving military retirement income may receive pension as additional income.  There is no penalty.  A veteran may not receive compensation and pension at the same time.  The veteran must make a choice.  A veteran or a qualifying spouse in a nursing facility may not receive full pension if that person is eligible for Medicaid.  The benefit is reduced to $90 a month.  It appears from claims awards that a veteran or eligible spouse receiving pension in assisted living or at home, who is also receiving Medicaid, can still receive the pension benefit in addition to Medicaid income.  For purposes of Medicaid, pension is considered income in these cases only for the amount of income received in excess of the aid and attendance or housebound allowance portion of the payment.  For purposes of VA, Medicaid is not considered income in these cases.

Need for Disability

If a veteran is younger than 65 years, he or she must be totally disabled and evidence must be provided.  Receipt of social security disability income is considered evidence.  A veteran 65 and older need not provide evidence of disability.  A single surviving spouse does not need to be disabled regardless of age.

The Income and Asset Test

The pension benefit or death pension benefit is calculated by subtracting total household income from the MAPR (maximum allowable pension rate).  The difference between the two becomes the benefit.  Income above the MAPR for that particular veteran category results in no benefit.  Income can be reduced for purposes of applying the income test by certain recurring and predictable medical expenses over the coming 12 months.  There are at least 9 different MAPRs and there are certainly more than that depending on the number of additional dependents or if two veterans are married to each other.  MAPRs are determined by household dependent status and whether there is a rating for aid and attendance or housebound or there is no rating.

There is also an asset test and as a general rule, cash equivalent assets cannot exceed $80,000.  VA determines what level of assets below $80,000 is allowable for each individual case.  A personal residence and a reasonable amount of land on which it stands as well as personal property and vehicles are exempt from the asset test.

A Rating Is Crucial

In order to reduce income to meet the income test, a rating for aid and attendance or housebound is crucial.  Not only does the rating significantly increase the MAPR, but without a rating, room and board costs for assisted living are not deductible for purposes of reducing income.  Only the much smaller assisted living medical costs are deductible.  For home care, non-medical costs are only deductible if the in-home attendant is licensed for healthcare in that state or if there is a rating.  Since the non-medical costs for home care represent the bulk of all costs for long-term care, without a rating, those households with a non-licensed attendant would not qualify for the benefit.  A rating for aid and attendance is automatic if someone is a patient in a nursing home or that person is blind or so nearly blind as to need assistance.

The Non-Veteran Spouse of a Healthy Veteran

Many service officers or accredited representatives deny that the pension benefit is available for the living, non-veteran spouse of a healthy veteran.  Yes, the benefit is available but is reduced.  Medical expenses for a spouse are always deductible for meeting the household income test for the healthy veteran who is applying.  Unfortunately, there is no provision for a rating for a non-veteran spouse.  This means that room and board for assisted living and non-medical services in the home would not be deductible for purposes of meeting the income test.  VA recognizes this deficiency and allows for a special provision for a spouse to meet the equivalent of a rating.  Any award will not include the additional allowance for aid and attendance or housebound ratings.  That said, we receive reports that in some cases, VA is providing the additional allowances for these types of claims. 

The Single Surviving Spouse

In order to qualify for death pension, a single surviving spouse must have been married to the veteran at the time of the veteran’s death.  Even if the surviving spouse is currently single, that surviving spouse cannot have remarried after November 1, 1990.  This makes the surviving spouse ineligible.  The surviving spouse could have remarried and become single prior to this date and still qualify.  If the surviving spouse remarried another qualifying veteran and was married to that veteran at the time of the veteran's death, and the surviving spouse meets the other rules above, the surviving spouse can qualify for a benefit based on the second marriage.

Long-Term Care at Home

Some county service officers or VSO accredited representatives claim that the cost of paying a member of the family to provide care in the home is not deductible for purposes of meeting the income test.  Or if they say this is deductible, they will say that the family member who is being paid as an in-home attendant cannot live in the same household.  None of this is true.  Family members being paid to provide assistance in the home or anywhere else for that matter are considered to be paid attendants whether they are professionals or not.  As mentioned above, there must be a rating or the non-medical services provided are not deductible for determining income.  Evidence must be provided that money is exchanging hands and that the member of the family is not reimbursing the veteran household that is paying that family member.  A family member being paid for services cannot reimburse the veteran household but may pay the bills for the veteran household.  This is allowed.