Hidden Government Program Pays for Cost of Home Care

"Planning for Eldercare" July 10, 2007
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Hidden Government Program
Pays the Cost of Home Care

What if 33% of all seniors in this country could receive up to $1,800 a month in additional
income from the government to cover their long term care costs? They can!
Under the right circumstances, a little-known federal program will pay additional income to
cover long term care costs for at least 1/3 of all US senior households.
But the provisions of this program are such a well-kept secret that only 4.6% of eligible
seniors are actually receiving the benefit.
The great news about this program is the government will
pay you to hire your family, friends or just about anyone to take care of you.
The program is called "VA Pension."

Only about 520,000 people are currently receiving Pension from the Veterans Benefits
Administration and these are not all elderly. At the most, this number represents only
about 4.6% of the eligible 11,400,000 senior households -- 33% of the US senior
population. Based on the incidence of long term care in the elderly, about 22% of eligibles
or about 2,500,000 people should be receiving pension.
That's roughly five times more persons than are receiving it now.

Most people who have heard about Pension know that it will cover the costs of
assisted living and, in some cases, cover nursing home costs as well.
But the majority of those receiving long term care in this country are in their homes.
Estimates are that approximately 70% to 80% of
all long term care is being provided in the home.
All of the information available about Pension overlooks the fact that this benefit
could be used to pay for home care.

It also comes as a surprise to most people that VA will allow veterans’ households to
include the annual cost of paying any person such as family members, friends or hired
help for care when calculating the Pension benefit. This annual cost is deducted from
household income and used to calculate a lower "countable income" which in turn enables
families to receive this disability income from VA. Even though VA claims the benefit is for
low income families, because of the deduction for care costs, households earning
between $3,000 and $6,000 a month can still qualify for Pension.

This extra income can be a welcome benefit for families struggling to
provide eldercare for loved ones at home.
Under the right circumstances, this annualized medical expense for
the cost of family members, friends or any other person providing
care, could create an additional household income of
up to $976 a month for
a single surviving spouse of a veteran,
up to $1,520 a month for
a single veteran or
up to $1,800 a month for a couple.

If the disabled care recipient has been rated "housebound" or in need of
"aid and attendance" by VA, all fees paid to an in-home attendant will be allowed as long
as the attendant provides some medical or nursing services for the disabled person.
The attendant does not have to be a licensed health professional.
There is also no need to distinguish between
medical and nonmedical services -- all are deductible.

It is our understanding that a nonlicensed in-home attendant could be just about anyone
receiving pay for providing services. This might be members of the family, friends, or
someone hired to live in the home.
Examples of medical or nursing services would be
help with activities of daily living such as dressing, bathing,
toileting, ambulating, feeding, diapering and so on. Other services
might include medication reminders or supervision necessary to
provide a protective environment for the care recipient --
in the case of dementia or Alzheimer's.

For a disabled person who has been rated, a family member will be considered an
in-home attendant, but that family member has to be paid for services duly rendered.
There is potential for fraud here where a family member may move into the home and
ostensibly receive payment as a caregiver but not actually
provide the level of care paid for.
Documentation for this care must be provided to VA, and it is reasonable for VA to
question whether the services being purchased from
a family member living in the household are legitimate.
Such arrangements should be extensively documented and completely arm's-length.

The care arrangements and payment for home care must be made prior to application
and there must be evidence that this care is needed on an ongoing and regular basis.
We recommend a formal care contract and weekly invoice billing for services.
Money must exchange hands and there must be evidence of this. All of this documentation
must be provided as proof to VA when making application for the pension benefit.
Costs for these services must be unreimbursed; meaning these costs are not paid by
insurance, by contributions from the family or from other sources.

Information for this article came from the website -- www.veteransaidbenefit.org. This
website is not sponsored by the government but the site is currently the only complete
source for information on the Pension benefit other than VA.

"Who is eligible for the
aid and attendance Pension benefit?"
http://www.veteransaidbenefit.org/who_eligible_aid_attendance_pension_benefit.htm#topmargin

VETERANS AID AND ATTENDANCE BENEFIT
LONG TERM CARE BENEFITS FOR VETERANS
Standard Edition (209 Pages)
"Getting this benefit is a slow process even for those applicants who know what
they are doing. On the other hand, for those who blindly submit a claim without
the proper support documents, it can take 8 to 12 months for a decision from VA.
Many long term care claimants will have household income that exceeds the
MAPR. For these people it is absolutely critical to provide the right kind of
cost-of-care evidence or the claim will be denied. If a claim is denied, the
applicant must wait another full year before he or she can reapply.
Our book provides the necessary information for the submission of a
well-documented claim." Thomas Day
Standard Edition -- $43.00 and free USPS shipping (UPS or FedEx additional)

This article reprinted with permission from the National Care Planning Council for non-commercial use.
Find original article at this web address:
http://www.longtermcarelink.net/ncpc/article-2007-7-30.htm

Thank You
Janet L. Heitzig, CLU, ChFC, CLTC
for sharing this ariticle with us.

Janet L Heitzig, CLU, ChFC, CLTC
Principal Financial Group
14755 N Outer 40-Ste 110
Chesterfield, MO 63017
Phone 636-449-0734 Fax 1-866-488-0903
Securities and advisory products offered through Princor Financial
Services Corporation, 800/247-4123, member SIPC, Des Moines, IA 50392.
Senior Strategies, L.L.C. is not an affiliate of Princor.
e-mail Heitzig.Janet@principal.com
Princor Registered Representative, Financial Advisor, Financial Representative,
Principal Life Insurance Company.