As we celebrate all our veterans today, CALA would like to take a moment to draw some attention to the Department of Veteran’s Affairs Aid and Attendance pension benefit. Aid and Attendance was established in 1952 and provides a direct pension benefit paid to eligible veterans in addition to the monthly pension.
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, a veteran may be eligible if:
- The veteran requires the aid of another person in order to perform personal functions required in everyday living, such as bathing, feeding, dressing, attending to the wants of nature, adjusting prosthetic devices, or protecting himself/herself from the hazards of his/her daily environment, OR,
- The veteran is bedridden, in that his/her disability or disabilities requires that he/she remain in bed apart from any prescribed course of convalescence or treatment, OR,
- The veteran is a patient in a nursing home due to mental or physical incapacity, OR,
- The veteran is blind, or so nearly blind as to have corrected visual acuity of 5/200 or less, in both eyes, or concentric contraction of the visual field to 5 degrees or less.
This additional benefit was established to assist qualified veterans, and their surviving spouses, to receive financial benefits outside of the traditional VA residential system. If a veteran qualifies, this benefit can provide a direct monthly pension benefit to purchase long term care. For more information about this and other VA benefits, please visit http://www.vba.va.gov/VBA/.
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