The AVCC Difference: Aid and Attendance Benefits & More

Our values have remained the same since the start. Jeanne Asher, a registered nurse working in home care, founded American Veterans Care Connection after struggling to find sufficient funding to assist her father, a wartime Veteran. Not only was the process a confusing and long ordeal, but she found that the only option available for her father was the Aid and Attendance pension. Plus, finding a qualified caregiver was a long, exhausting progress.

From her experiences, our founder vowed to work toward a solution so that no other Veteran or their loved ones would have to go through the same struggles she did. Since then, AVCC has prided itself on being connected with many qualified healthcare professionals that can easily provide assistance.

For many seniors, having the option to receive necessary services at home is priceless. There’s comfort in greater familiarity with their surroundings, more chances to interact with loved ones, and greater independence. But that’s not where the benefits of home health services end. Aging Veterans can get the perks of:

• Extra Companionship
• Grocery Shopping, Feeding, and Meal Preparation
• Transportation
• Mobility Assistance
• Toileting and Incontinence Care
• Bathing, Grooming, and Hygiene Assistance
• Laundry
• Medication Reminders
• Light Housekeeping

There are countless benefits Veterans and their surviving spouses are entitled to, but one of the most common people don’t take advantage of often enough is VA Aid and Attendance. Aid and Attendance is a monthly pension benefit administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to support Veterans, active duty personnel, military spouses, and their caregivers. Qualifying Veterans and surviving spouses often use this benefit to cover home care service costs.

For those who need the assistance of a caretaker but don’t have the financial resources to afford one out of pocket, this Veteran pension benefit is a great incentive.

To qualify for VA Aid and Attendance and apply for aid, at least one of the following must be true:

• The Veteran must be at least 65 years old or
• Have a permanent and total disability or
• Be a recipient of Social Security Disability Insurance, or Supplemental Security Income or
• Be a nursing home patient in need of long-term care because of a disability

Additionally, Veterans, military personnel, and surviving spouses must qualify for one of the following:

• The person is on bedrest and spends a large portion of the day in bed due to an illness.
• They need help performing daily activities, like feeding, bathing, and dressing.
• This person is a nursing home resident due to the loss of mental or physical abilities related to a disability.
• They have limited eyesight, and even with the aid of glasses or contact lenses, they only have 5/200 vision in less in both eyes, or their concentric contraction is five degrees or less.

Along with the standard eligibility and service requirements, Aid and Attendance recipients must meet the net worth, countable income, and MAPR requirements.

Net worth refers to the potential recipient’s annual income between them and their spouse, plus the sum of their assets. Countable income is how much the individual and their spouse earn yearly, including Social Security and retirement payments, and MAPR is the max pension amount a person can receive. This number is determined by the person’s number of dependents and whether they’re married to another Veteran with a pension.

Veterans seeking their current pension rate should subtract their countable income from their MAPR. However, if any Veterans hold over $130,773 in assets, this amount makes them ineligible to qualify.