By Daniel A. Burzynski
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Many Veterans do not realize that they may be eligible for a benefit to help cover the costs of medical care. If you are a Veteran who served in wartime you may qualify for additional monthly pension. This benefit, called “Aid and Attendance” works best for someone with modest means but large medical expenses. The VA includes most costs of assisted living facilities and nursing homes within the category of medical expenses. Therefore, even if you have a large monthly income you might still qualify if you are paying out monthly expenses for a facility. Other allowable medical expenses include co-payments on prescriptions, insurance premiums, and patient responsibility portions of doctor’s bills.
In other words, all unreimbursed medical expenses are allowable as a set-off against your income from all sources. If you have more going out each month than coming in, you should look into the program.
Aid & Attendance requires that you have limited assets. You should have less than $80,000 in countable assets. There is no limit on non-countable assets. (We can help you structure your assets into non-countable categories.)
You also have to be permanently in need of the help of others to perform your activities of daily living. To certify the need, there is a doctor’s report we file along with your application for pension.
Top 10 mistakes on VA Claims:
10. Not disclosing necessary information.
9. Not providing supporting papers.
8. Applying for benefits but not knowing what benefits to apply for.
7. Applying for benefits when not eligible.
6. Filling out the wrong forms.
5. Filling out the forms wrong.
4. Not filling out all needed forms
3. Not signing the form properly.
2. Assuming you don’t qualify
1. Not getting advice from an Elder Care Attorney.