{"id":845,"date":"2019-09-24T20:16:45","date_gmt":"2019-09-24T20:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/?p=845"},"modified":"2021-05-25T18:38:26","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T18:38:26","slug":"va-pensions-are-you-eligible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/va-pensions-are-you-eligible\/","title":{"rendered":"VA Pensions: Are You or a Loved One Eligible?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Veteran\u2019s Administration provides many different types of benefits to U.S. veterans and their spouses. Some of the more commonly known benefits include health care and disability compensation. If you are a veteran over the age of 65, or the spouse of a veteran, you may also qualify for tax-free pensions to supplement your income or help pay for long-term care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What is a VA Pension?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A VA pension is monthly monetary benefit paid to low-income\nveterans (Basic Pension) and their surviving spouses (Survivor\u2019s Pension).\nThere is also an enhanced pension for veterans and spouses who need long-term\ncare (Aid and Attendance). Pensions are tax-free supplemental income. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Wartime Service<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A key pension requirement is the veteran having have served\nat least 90 days of active duty, with at least one day during a wartime\nperiod.&nbsp; Wartime periods are established\nby Congress and currently include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">World War II \u2013 from December 7, 1941 to December 31, 1946<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Korean Conflict \u2013 from June 27, 1950 to January 31, 1955<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vietnam Era \u2013 from February 28, 1961 to August 4, 1964 for\nveterans who served in Vietnam (boots on the ground) or on a ship of the coast\nof Vietnam, and August 5, 1964 to May 7, 1975 for veterans who served in\nVietnam, on a ship off the coast of Vietnam, or anyplace else in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gulf War \u2013 from August 2, 1990 to a date that will\neventually be set by law or presidential proclamation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A common myth is that the veteran must have served in a\ncombat zone to be eligible for a pension. Except for the early Vietnam Era\nperiod, a veteran can qualify for a pension regardless of whether or not they\nserved in combat, as long as they meet the criteria of at least 90 days of\nactive duty, with at least one day during an eligible period of war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Additional Requirements<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Veterans who apply for a pension must be at least 65 years of age\nor older, or\ntotally disabled.<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The spouse of a veteran applying for a survivor\u2019s pension\ncan be any age, but must also meet the VA\u2019s income and asset requirements. The\nspouse must have been married to the veteran at the time of his passing, and\nnot remarried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Note: Children under the age of 18, or under the age of\n23 who are attending an approved VA school or who became disabled before the\nage of 18 and can no longer take care of themselves (self-support) may also be\neligible for a VA pension.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>More About Aid and Attendance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/aid-attendance-reducing-the-financial-burden-of-long-term-care\/\">Aid and Attendance<\/a> is an enhanced benefit for veterans and spouses who need personal care. It is a reimbursement for care that can help cover the cost of home care, adult day care, board and care, assisted living and skilled nursing care. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Home care can be provided by a family member, friend or\nprofessional caregiver. The caregiver does not have to be licensed to provide\nthe care. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Similar to the basic and survivor\u2019s pensions, the veteran\nmust have served at least 90 days of active duty, with at least one day during\na wartime period, and be 65 years of age or older. A spouse can be any age.\nOther spousal qualifications include being married to the veteran at the time\nof his passing, and not remarried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because Aid and Attendance is a long-term care benefit, the\nveteran or spouse must need help with at least two out of the five types of\ndaily living activities: bathing, dressing, eating, toileting and transferring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bathing means any assistance at all with bathing, including\nadjusting the water temperature or shower head, or even reminders to bathe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dressing refers to help with buttoning, zippering, putting\nclothes on or taking them off, reminders to change clothes or help picking out\ncloths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eating is feeding someone or reminding someone to eat or eat\nhealthy. It does not include meal preparation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Toileting is any type of bathroom assistance or help with\nincontinence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Transferring is a term used to describe helping someone move\nfrom place to place, such as up and down stairs or in and out of a vehicle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Important \u2013 the VA does not consider housekeeping,\nrunning errands, medication management or driving someone (transportation)\nactivities of daily living.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The VA also has very specific income and asset criteria. To\nfind out more about Aid and Attendance financial requirements, contact one of\nour Benefit Consultants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The maximum Aid and Attendance benefit for a single veteran\nis $1,881 per month \u2013 $22,572 a year in additional income. &nbsp;For married veterans it\u2019s $2,230 per month ($26,760\na year) and for surviving spouses $1,209 per month ($14,508).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Paying for Long-Term Care<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to current research, 7 out of 10 people will need\nlong-term care at some point in their life.&nbsp;\nThe average cost of a home health aide or assisted living facility now\naverages around $4,000 a month, while the median cost of a skilled nursing\nfacility is $7000 a month or more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With Aid and Attendance, veterans and spouses can reduce their\nout-of-pocket care expenses, stay at home longer and get the personal care that\nthey need. It can also help veterans and spouses in a care facility remain\nprivate pay and in control of the quality of the care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you or a loved one are a veteran or spouse and need help paying for long-term care, contact one of our benefit consultants today to <a href=\"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/aid-attendance-benefit-see-if-you-qualify\/\">find out more about Aid and Attendance<\/a>, and how the benefit and claim process works.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Veteran\u2019s Administration provides many different types of benefits to U.S. veterans and their spouses. Some of the more commonly known benefits include health care and disability compensation. If you are a veteran over the age of 65, or the spouse of a veteran, you may also qualify for tax-free pensions to supplement your income [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":846,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[133,9,23],"tags":[42,190,214,258,193,185],"class_list":["post-845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-aid-attendance","category-veterans","category-veterans-aid","tag-aid-attendance","tag-korean-war-veterans","tag-va-pensions","tag-veterans-pensions","tag-vietnam-veterans","tag-world-war-ii-veterans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=845"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1129,"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845\/revisions\/1129"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanveteransaid.com\/newblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}