Written by a Friend of a Veteran in Need of Home Care Assistance
I have a friend whose father served during the Vietnam War and recently he was talking about the fact that his father was having trouble tending to his own care at home. I mentioned veterans home care, but my friend did not have the first clue what I was talking about.
I had to look it up, but it is called the Aid and Attendance pension and it was designed and put into effect after World War I. Its purpose was to help ailing and injured veterans receive proper care at home. It is available to any veteran who served during a time of combat, but there are certain stipulations, depending on the age of the veteran and other factors.
I helped my friend find out more about the Aid and Attendance benefit, including the fact that the veteran would need to have served at least one day of active duty service during a time of war. He or she would also have to have served at least 90 days of active duty. If the veteran is over the age of 65, he would not have had to have been injured during service, but he or she would need to have a doctor’s recommendation for home care. If the veteran is under the age of 65 he or she would have had to have been injured during service in order to qualify for this pension.
Once my friend discussed these options with his father, they felt that he would qualify for the pension. His income level was low, so they didn’t feel that this would keep them from obtaining the pension.
But one question that came to me that I didn’t have an answer for was whether the money could be used to pay for home care that was provided by a family member. I decided to do some research to try to help my friend. What I found was a bit surprising. I didn’t expect that the money would be able to go to a family member who is providing home care for their veteran loved one. But it can.
As long as a family member is not somebody already living with the veteran, and as long as they are providing verifiable home care, then the veteran can use the Aid and Attendance pension to help pay for their services. I found this to be very positive, considering how many elderly veterans receive home care from family members.
For more information and to learn about Veterans Home Care Assistance Program, contact Veteran’s Home Care at (888) 314-6075.
