"The American soldier is a gift from God.  Freedom is his gift to the world" – unknown.

In
the year 1919 President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11 as
Armistice Day to honor those Veterans who served during World War I. On
November 11, 1954, Armistice Day was proclaimed a legal national
holiday and the name was changed to "Veterans Day" to honor all
veterans of all wars.

Every November 11, ceremonies are held throughout the United States
honoring Veterans of wars. A National Ceremony is held at Arlington
Cemetery at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where the laying of the
presidential wreath and military playing of “Taps” is presented.
Since its establishment in 1930, the Department of Veterans Affairs has
evolved to supporting and aiding the nation’s veterans in numerous
ways. One of these services for example, the Veterans Health
Administration, is the largest single provider of medical care in the
United States. Its 22 regions with 154 hospitals and their associated
875 outpatient clinics offer the following services.

Hospital, outpatient medical, dental, pharmacy and prosthetic services
Domiciliary, nursing home, and community-based residential care
Sexual trauma counseling
Specialized health care for women veterans
Health and rehabilitation programs for homeless veterans
Readjustment counseling
Alcohol and drug dependency treatment
Medical evaluation for disorders associated with military service in
the Gulf War, or Treatment for exposure to Agent Orange, radiation, and
other environmental hazards
HISA grants
Other special benefits

The Department of Veterans Affairs provides three types of long term care services for veterans.

The first
are health care benefits provided to veterans who have
service-connected disabilities, who are receiving VA Pension or who are
considered low income. These services include free medical care,
possible free prescription drugs, orthotics and prosthetics, home
renovation grants for disabilities, home care, assisted living,
domiciliary care, nursing home care, and a possible host of other
services or benefits.

The second benefit
is state veterans homes. The majority of these homes offer nursing care
but some may offer assisted living or domiciliary care. The Department
of Veterans Affairs in conjunction with the states helps build and
support state veterans homes. Money is provided to help with
construction and a federal subsidy of $72.71 a day is provided for each
veteran using state veterans nursing home services. These homes are
generally available for most veterans and sometimes their spouses and
in some cases for so-called "Goldstar parents." Veterans homes are run
by the states, sometimes with the help of contract management. There
may be waiting lists in some states.

The third benefit
for veterans is disability income programs. The most familiar of these
benefits is an income for service-connected disabled veterans called
"Compensation." The least known of these is a program officially called
"Pension" but popularly known as the "aid and attendance benefit."

• All active-duty veterans who served at least 90 days during a period of
  war are eligible for Pension and the additional income from aid and
  attendance or housebound allowances. A single surviving spouse of such
  a veteran is also eligible.
• All qualifying veteran applicants over the age of 65 are eligible for
  pension but must meet income and asset tests. Applicants under the age
  of 65 must in addition be totally disabled to qualify. Disability does
  not have to be service-connected.
• A surviving spouse can be any age and there is no need for disability.

The
aid and attendance benefit can pay additional income to provide for the
costs associated with home care, assisted living, nursing homes, adult
day care and other unreimbursed medical expenses. It can also pay for a
family member other than a spouse to be the care giver. The amount of
payment varies with the type of care, recipient income and the marital
status of the recipient. Here are some examples of how this benefit can
help veterans.

Example #1
The National Care Planning Council receives many calls from family
members of veterans, asking if there is any help available to them. One
such call came from a woman who had been juggling her job and caring
for her father in her home for over five years. She had just lost her
job and with no income, did not know how she would keep her home or
give her father the care he needed. She read an article that had been
written by the National Care Planning Council and published in her
local newspaper and called their phone number. The article mentioned
that a member of the family — not including a spouse — can be paid
through VA to provide care for a loved one at home who is either a war
veteran or the surviving spouse of a war veteran. Her father is a war
veteran. When told that she could get an additional $1,644 a month
through her father by providing her father's care she was shocked. She
was also extremely grateful and ended up sobbing into tears over the
phone when she found out about the benefit and realized it would help
her keep her home and her father may probably get a check for her
retroactive previous care from VA worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Example #2
Another recent caller’s mother is 89 years old and has been in assisted
living for four years. As a widow of a veteran she did not qualify for
the Aid & Attendance Pension 4 years ago because her assets were
too high. In the meantime she has been using up her assets along with
her income to pay for the assisted living. The local veterans service
office has not been helpful in getting this claim approved even though
she had reached the allowable asset limit over two years ago. The
family was considering putting her in a less desirable facility under
Medicaid. The family knew this would be devastating for their mother.
Her health was still good and she had many friends and comforts at the
assisted living.

The
National Care Planning Council directed the caller and his family to a
more cooperative veterans service office that will submit the claim and
likely get it approved retroactively so that this woman can get a check
for roughly $40,000 worth of previous care costs for which she was not
reimbursed. In addition, she will likely get the full benefit of $1,056
a month to help pay the cost of the assisted living where she is happy.

These types of claims require medical evidence in order to receive a
rating for aid and attendance or housebound allowances. These ratings
must be received or certain non-medical expenses associated with long
term care are not deductible from income. Special rules also allow for
deducting the annual anticipated cost of month-to-month long term care
from household income in order to meet the income test. This special
treatment requires special documentation and evidence. In addition,
those households with substantial assets will be denied for a Pension
income unless those assets are below a certain level determined for
each case by VA. The personal residence, personal vehicles and personal
property are exempted from this asset test. Finally, evidence must be
supplied every year in January that the anticipated costs for the
previous year were actually incurred or VA will likely demand for its
money back.
The National Care Planning Council has compiled the
necessary forms, rules and information about claims together in one
book titled “How to Apply for the Veterans Aid & Attendance Pension Benefit.”

This book contains information about how a typical applicant receives a
successful pension award. VA often tells callers to go ahead and fill
out the application but generally provides no information on the
special treatment of annualization of anticipated recurring medical
costs. The claims form also contains no information on this important
issue. One simply has to know how to do it. This crucial information
can make the difference between a successful award and being declined.
All necessary forms for filing a claim are in the book.

Veterans who have substantial assets may need to do some estate
planning and realigning of assets to qualify. An expert in this area
should be sought to help with the application in order to avoid lengthy
delays in awarding a benefit or a possible denial of benefits. For a
list of individuals or companies in your area who understand how to get
this benefit go to
http://www.longtermcarelink.net/ref_veterans_consultants.htm

To learn more about this benefit go to
http://www.veteransaidbenefit.org/

November 11th was officially Veterans’ Day, celebrated today with many business closures.  Many of my clients are veterans, although most do not volunteer that fact unless asked.  They are proud of their service to the United States, but given the things they saw, friends they lost and scars they bear, they do not easily talk about their experiences.  While I can advise them to check their eligibility for veterans’ benefits, such as Aid and Attendance (see the VA website at www.va.gov), I cannot help with the emotional scars.  I can, however, say "thank you," to them and to our active duty service men and women.  And you can, too – go to www.letssaythanks.com and send a postcard. It will be the best thing you did today.