For aging veterans, the Aid and Attendance benefit can be instrumental at helping them rely on veteran’s care support services (when the time comes). Aid and Attendance is not available to all veterans, though.
For those who may require some type of veteran’s care, there is no set age requirement to be eligible for Aid and Attendance benefits. A person in their 40s who is a veteran and would qualify based on time of service and other factors would need to be considered completely disabled in order to qualify for these pension benefits.
Somebody considered an elderly veteran would need to have a documentable requirement for veteran’s care, usually provided through a doctor’s recommendation.
Now, not a lot of veterans really know much about Aid and Attendance benefits, but they can be highly important when it comes to elderly men and women who have served in the military and need some type of support at home. That support could include assistance getting ready for the day, taking a shower or going to the bathroom, preparing meals, or many other activities of normal daily life.
Before a veteran applies for Aid and Attendance benefits, there are some things they should know.
First, their time of service matters.
Those who are eligible for Aid and Attendance are considered wartime veterans. This does not mean a veteran had to have served any forward combat situation, but rather their time of service needs to have overlapped an official time of combat the United States was engaged in, including World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam Conflict, and the Gulf War, which officially ended in August 2021.
They only need one day of their active duty service to overlap one of these combat periods.
Second, the approval process can take many months.
Some veterans wait too long to begin looking into veteran’s care options. They either depend on family or friends for support and assistance, or they don’t really think they need it at that stage in their life.
If their doctor has recommended they have some support and assistance at home, now is the perfect time to begin looking into Aid and Attendance benefits and filling out an application if the veteran believes he or she should qualify.
Even though a veteran needs to have a documentable requirement for in-home care, and it may take many months for the approval process, veterans should realize that when they are approved, the VA does provide reimbursements for veteran’s care services provided while the application was in a pending status.
Third, you must have a qualifying need for veteran’s care.
As mentioned, this means requiring assistance to perform any number of daily tasks, including bathing, toileting, getting dressed, getting to doctors’ appointments, moving about your house, preparing meals, grocery shopping, and much more.
A lot of people turn to family and friends for help in these matters at first. Too often, though, that can strain the relationship and put an undue amount of pressure on those family members.
Professional, experienced veteran’s care makes a difference. And for those veterans who can’t afford veteran’s care on their own, who are considered wartime veterans, they may just qualify for Aid and Attendance benefits.
If you or an aging loved one are considering veteran’s care in Brookfield, WI please contact the caring staff at Talem Home Care & Placement Services today. Call (414) 206-2090
At Talem Home Care of Milwaukee, we provide passionate, understanding, and flexible caregivers in Brookfield, Cudahy, Delafield, Franklin, Greendale, Greenfield, Hales Corners, Milwaukee, Mukwonago, Muskego, New Berlin, Oak Creek, Oconomowoc, Pewaukee, Shorewood, South Milwaukee, Waukesha, Wauwatosa, West Allis and surrounding areas in Wisconsin.
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