Is VA Aid and Attendance an income-based program?

I had to go thru an attorney to get my mother approved for VA A&A bens. Yes it is income based, but it has been a lifesaver for us allowing my sister to quit her job and take on full-time care for our 91yo mother with dementia. We had been paying $400 a week for in-home care and this is much better and mom is much happier.

Thanks to you all for your thoughtful answers and suggestions! Big help!

Just my experience and I could be wrong as it was hard to get clear answers from the VA reps: IMO the VA wants predictable monthly expenses such as nursing homes. The form asks for that - what are your monthly expenses for the next year? They want predictable, regular ones. I thought that my Dad's $7000 in med costs (hospitalizations, medications...) the year that I applied, would count to reduce his 24000/yr income to a qualifying level. It didn't. They didn't even consider those expenses. They did, however, reduce his income by the amount that I claimed he paid me - 100/mo. He wrote me a check. He hadn't really been paying me and I didn't want it either. We just wanted to see if it would be considered. It was. They took it off his income. I have read that that can be reimbursed to the veteran if they are in the program. In our case, it wasn't reimbursed.
It took so long - I was told that the particular center that his application went to was "just that way". And I believe that every Oct you have to reapply for the next year. WWII vet. We were just trying to get some help in the home. He was not able to do anything for a while - very bad off with many hospitalizations. Still, he hung in there and was in his home with me taking care of him. In the end we were told he was "in the program" but his income was too high. Never did use it.

Dootiful, qualification for A&A can be tricky, and complicated. Your best bet is to contact a local county or state veterans' organization with service officers, or contact a local American Legion or VFW post. All of these can and will help you for free. It's illegal to charge for this service, but some people do.

Depending on income level, it can prevent someone from being qualified, but the criteria are ones best explained by a trained veterans' service officer.

I've researched this repeatedly, contacted local, state and VA reps as well as a service officer with the VFW, and I'm still confused!

I recently went through this for my mom, I worked with an agency center for aging solutions. It did cost me some money however, they walked me through the entire process, helped me get additional items from the Navy, etc. They reviewed every piece of paper before it was ready to be sent to the VA. The benefits were reviewed 2 months later and my mother received her first check 2 months after that. Other people I know are still waiting to hear from the VA. Also, I dealt with Jeb, he will let you know from the beginning if you or spouse, parent, etc is eligible there are some restrictions, not every VET is eligible for these benefits. The last phone number on have on file is 888-470-6977. They were a big help to me. Good Luck

There are a lot of articles on this website and several links for more information on VA Aid & Attendance (enhanced pension). The VA program is medically and financially based but applying for it requires a lot of information gathering and specific service requirements that have been explained in great detail in articles on the website before.

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