The Aging Veteran and Home Care: What if It’s Not Affordable?

How much are various senior care options? Most people in the United States couldn’t answer that question properly. They simply have no idea how expensive assisted living, nursing home care, and other options are. They even fail to realize that home care is by far the most affordable long-term and even short-term care option for people of all ages when they need assistance with daily life.

For veterans, home care can sometimes seem like a pipe dream, especially when they’re having extreme difficulty with their own mobility. That’s because when veterans are on a limited income through a pension, disability payment, or even Social Security, and all of that money coming every month basically goes out for their basic living expenses, they couldn’t even possibly consider hiring an experienced caregiver to come to their home for even a couple of days a week.

For wartime veterans, the Aid and Attendance Benefit could help.

The Aid and Attendance Benefit is a pension made available through the VA to provide financial assistance to qualifying veterans to pay for home care services. It was developed following World War I and has expanded through the years. It now provides financial assistance to veterans of all ages, whether they were injured or disabled during their time of service or afterward.

In order to qualify, veterans need to have been honorably discharged from service, served at least 90 days active duty in one of the major branches of the United States military, and at least one day of their active duty service needs to have overlapped a time of official combat. Official combat is defined by Congress and includes World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf War. If any veteran served time during the Gulf War, their minimum time of service will be two years, not 90 days.

Active combat does not mean a veteran has to have fought in a forward combat situation. It simply means their time of service needs to have overlapped, by a minimum of one day, a period of time in which the United States was actively engaged in conflict somewhere in the world.

For those qualifying veterans, when they realize home care is essential, especially if it is going to be long-term care, they should be encouraged to fill out and submit the application for this pension as soon as possible. They will also need to prove that home care is necessary at this point in their life.

If you or a loved one are considering hiring home care for aging veterans, please contact the friendly staff at Veterans Care Coordination™. Call today: 1-855-380-4400

Posted in Aging Veterans Care

About Kyle Laramie, Founder & CEO

Kyle founded Veterans Care Coordination in April 2011. As its founder and CEO of VCC, Kyle is driven by the memory of his grandfather, a World War II Veteran who unnecessarily missed out on essential VA benefits because Kyle’s family wasn’t aware of available opportunities. In recognition of his impact in leadership, Kyle was named to the St. Louis Business Journal’s prestigious “40 Under 40” list and St. Louis Small Business Monthly’s “100 St. Louisans to Know” in 2014. VCC was named a St. Louis Small Business Monthly “Top 20” small business and a finalist for the St. Louis Post Dispatch Top Workplace (2015-2022), St. Louis Business Journal Best Place to Work (2019 & 2022), and the Arcus Awards (2014). The team has served more than 14,000 Veteran clients and their families. Kyle frequently speaks on Veterans’ benefits, addressing conferences such as the Home Care Association of America and Decision Health. He is passionate about giving back and has built a charitable-minded organization that supports various philanthropic efforts.