This benefit is available to eligible Veterans or their surviving spouses. This program can help offset some of the costs of medical, assisted living, home healthcare, or nursing home expenses.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

1.   Wartime Veterans who are 65 or older, or permanently disabled.

2.   The Veteran must have served at least 90 days of active duty, with at least one of those days during a time of war.           

3.   The Veteran must have received an honorable, general, or medical discharge.

Wartime Eligibility dates of service:

World War II                        12/07/1941 - 12/31/1946

Korean War                         06/27/1950 - 01/31/1955

Vietnam                               02/28/1961 - 05/07/1975  

The maximum monthly benefit for

each category as of Jan. 2009:
        

Married Veterans…….…… $1,949.00

Single Veterans………..…… $1,643.00

Surviving spouses………… $1,056.00

What are Aid and Attendance and Housebound benefits?

Aid and Attendance (A&A) is a benefit paid in addition to monthly pension.   This benefit may not be paid without eligibility to pension.   A veteran may be eligible for A&A when:

1.    The veteran requires the aid of another person in order to perform personal functions required in everyday living, such as bathing, feeding, dressing, attending to the wants of nature, adjusting prosthetic devices, or protecting himself/herself from the hazards of his/her daily environment, OR,

2.    The veteran is bedridden, in that his/her disability or disabilities requires that he/she remain in bed apart from any prescribed course of convalescence or treatment, OR,

3.    The veteran is a patient in a nursing home due to mental or physical incapacity, OR,

4.    The veteran is blind, or so nearly blind as to have corrected visual acuity of 5/200 or less, in both eyes, or concentric contraction of the visual field to 5 degrees or less.

Housebound is paid in addition to monthly pension.    Like A&A, Housebound benefits may not be paid without eligibility to pension.   A veteran may be eligible for Housebound benefits when:

1.    The veteran has a single permanent disability evaluated as 100-percent disabling AND, due to such disability, he/she is permanently and substantially confined to his/her immediate premises, OR,

The veteran has a single permanent disability evaluated as 100-percent disabling AND, another disability, or disabilities, evaluated as 60 percent or more disabling.

VA Aid and Attendance Benefit Help - How To Legally Qualify For The Aid & Attendance Program