Veterans’ Benefits
Are you an honorably discharged veteran? If so, you may be missing out on almost $24,000 of tax free income each and every year if you or your spouse is in assisted living, a nursing home or have large sums of out of pocket health care expenses and live at home
Watch this NBC story concerning this benefit from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.
You might be eligible to receive an extra $24,000 per year, tax free!
It has been my personal experience that a large percentage of veterans or their widows do not know about this program or have been misinformed. As a result, many families are losing thousands and thousands of dollars they are otherwise entitled to receive. Sadly, for those families, the money they could have been receiving is lost forever. This is because the Veterans Administration will not pay for money someone was eligible to receive for any periods of time occurring before their application is filed. So the best they can do is get the benefits from the date of the application forward.
I have met with families who have scheduled appointments with me because their loved one is going into a nursing home. They want to discuss Medicaid and see how much I can help them save. I find out during our conversation that the person had been in assisted living for years and could have been receiving this benefit if only someone had timely informed and helped them. They have often lost out on tens of thousands of dollars. I do not want you to be one of those unfortunate individuals.
Don’t lose tens of thousands of dollars by failing to act
You owe it to yourself to understand the Veteran’s Administration’s Special Pension and/or Aid & Attendance benefit programs that are available to those honorably discharged veterans who are over 65, or their widows, who are struggling with the cost of their medical care.
If you or a member of your family is an honorably discharged veteran who served at least one day during a period of wartime or conflict, and if you are in a nursing home, an assisted living facility or are spending several hundred dollars a month or more on the cost of your health care, then you may qualify for benefits under the Veteran’s Administration’s Aid and Attendance Pension Program.
A qualified, married veteran can receive up to about $2,000 per month. The widow of a veteran can receive up to about $1,000 per month. However, in order to qualify, you must also meet certain income and asset tests. But unlike Medicaid, assets can be transferred, even gifted, if done properly without any penalty being imposed by the Veteran’s Department. Of course, if the gift is made improperly it can have severe consequences with the Veteran’s Department and cause a lengthy, expensive loss of benefits. Further, any plan to qualify for Veteran’s Benefits must also take into account Medicaid’s rules in case it is necessary to apply for Medicaid at a later date.
Even though the Veteran’s Department does not apply a penalty for gifts made properly, Medicaid could impose a penalty for those very same gifts! Thus, it is important to work with someone that knows both the special pension and/or aid and attendance program through the Veteran’s Administration and knows the rules of Medicaid like we do. You do not want to qualify for the Veteran’s Administration benefit only later to find out you can’t get your nursing home costs paid for because of a mistake made when doing planning that only looked at the Veteran’s Administration benefit.
If you wish to schedule a consultation, please call an Ohio Veteran’s Benefits Attorney for an appointment at 419-626-0684. If you would like additional information, please sign up for our free guide below.
