How In Home Caregivers In Folsom Aid Vets To Ease Burden of Caregiving With Aid & Attendance Benefit

For more information click here: www.comfortkeepers.com

By Senior Caregiving Expert Vince Maffeo

In today´s economy, many families are reassessing how they´re planning to provide care for an aging parent. As families become more budget-conscious, many are tempted to divide care duties among siblings or grandchildren. Still others hire private caregivers to take care of a loved one.

No matter what your plan is, many families are often pleasantly surprised to hear that the Veterans Administration has a pension in place that your family may qualify for. This program, the Aid and Attendance Pension, is available to veterans and their surviving spouses who require help with activities of daily living, such as bathing, eating, and toileting.

Teaming with a Folsom-based in-home care provider could be your family´s best plan to ease the burden of caregiving for an aging parent (or parents). Comfort Keepers has experts on its team who are thoroughly familiar with the Aid and Attendance Pension. These experts can help you fill out and submit the paperwork, as well as establish a plan of care that fits within your family´s budget.

In this article, we´ll explore the details of the Aid and Attendance Pension, and offer tips on how to make the program work for you and your family:

What is the program and what does it encompass?

The Aid and Attendance Pension was designed to provide financial support for those veterans who need assistance with activities of daily living -(ADLs)– and their surviving spouses later in life: grooming, bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring. And, one of the pleasant surprises that families learn is that the Pension is not limited to veterans living in a facility; veterans who need care in their own homes are eligible to receive the Pension.

Who´s eligible for the program?

Any veteran who served during wartime, with 90 days of active duty, is eligible. A veteran need not have served in a combat zone; any service during wartime is considered eligible. The wars that have been designated by Congress are World Wars I and II; Korea; Vietnam; and Persian Gulf.

In addition to the service requirement, there is an economic requirement. That is, the veteran must have on average less than $80,000 in assets, excluding their home and vehicles.

To apply, the veteran needs a medical evaluation from a physician attesting that he or she needs help with activities of daily living. In addition, there are several VA forms to fill out. The VA experts at Comfort Keepers can help you fill out these forms. At minimum, the applicant needs to have his or her DD-214 (separation or discharge papers) form handy to begin the process.

Another pleasant surprise is that surviving spouses of veterans (even if he or she did not serve in the military, or who served but not during wartime) are eligible. The only distinction is that the marriage must have ended due to the death of the veteran (i.e. a divorced spouse is not eligible).

Finally, when choosing a Sacramento-area agency to provide in-home care, make sure you avoid working with any company that charges you a fee to fill out the paperwork; it is illegal to charge a veteran to fill out the forms associated with the Aid and Attendance Pension. If you or your family have any doubts about a particular company you´re working with, please make sure to consult an elder-law attorney.

Is there a "catch?"

Amazingly, there generally are no "catches" to this program. It is truly designed to be a welcome benefit for those who´ve given their time and effort during America´s wartimes. The program does have some limitations, including the fact that government agencies are notoriously slow in processing paperwork. The limitations include:

• It generally takes 4-6 months to have applicant´s paperwork approved. During that time, applicants will have to pay out of pocket for in-home care expenses. However, once the paperwork is approved, the benefit pays retroactively to the application date.

• The pension provides up to $1,600 per month to a veteran, $1,000 to a surviving spouse, and over $1,900 to a couple. While this amount greatly benefits most seniors, it most likely will not cover the expense of a 24-hour caregiver.

• Each county has its own administrator of the program, and some of them are not well-versed in the particulars of the program. Rest assured that Comfort Keepers´ team of experts is knowledgeable of the VA resources the Sacramento, Placer, and El Dorado county areas.

As you can see, the Veterans Administration Aid and Attendance Pension is a wonderful, if not publicized, program that offers tremendous help to veterans and their surviving spouses. Even if your aging parent doesn´t need a caregiver right now, you should still take the time to locate the necessary military papers (such as the DD-214 discharge papers) now so that you´re ready to apply when the time is right. As always, asking the right questions, and selecting the right providers, can make all the difference in the world.

For more information or to find the right caregiver for your family, visit our website at www.comfortkeepers.com.