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Written By Thomas Gregory – U.S. Navy Veteran
Established in 1952 under Title 38 of the United States Code, Congress created two types of benefits for war Veterans and their survivors within the Department of Veteran Affairs. The first is “compensation for service-related disability or death” and second, “a pension for non-service connected disability or death”. A little-known VA pension, which falls under the non-service connected section of Title 38, is called Aid & Attendance. The Aid & Attendance Pension pays for a caregiver to assist with activities of daily living such as meal preparation, bathing, dressing/undressing, transportation, light-house keeping, laundry and various others.
If you are a war veteran or surviving spouse of a war veteran 65 years of age or older, who served 90 days or more on active duty, with one of those days occurring during a declared period of war, you may qualify for Aid & Attendance. In addition to the war service requirements, to qualify, you must have the medical need (i.e. assist with activities of daily living) and meet certain financial requirements. In general, Aid & Attendance is intended to pay for homecare or assisted living care and in some rare cases, independent living facilities. This significant monthly benefit can pay as much as $25,000 per year toward your care. Very few war veterans know about this benefit and even fewer surviving spouses are aware of this help available from the VA.
There are approximately 600,000 war veterans currently living in Florida that are 65 years of age or older. If we include surviving spouses of war veterans, the number is easily in excess of one million. Conservative estimates indicate that at least 25% of these veterans and spouses would qualify for Aid & Attendance Pension, if they only knew it existed. Maybe that’s you.
If you are veteran of foreign war or the surviving spouse of a war veteran, and you feel you may qualify, please call Attorney Andrew Curtis at 561-998-6039 and his staff will review your situation. with you and determine if you qualify.