WHAT THE VA DOES NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT VA “AID & ATTENDANCE”

A Q&A session with Dr. Horace Bone, Founder of NC Veteran Support Group

Question:
Just what is the “Aid & Attendance” pension benefit, and why is it so much in the news today?

Answer:
The “Aid & Attendance” benefit is an under-used benefit that is available to wartime veterans who usually served during WWII, the Korean War or Vietnam.  These veterans and their spouses or widows generally require in-home care, or they are living in assisted living facilities or nursing homes. 

It is unfortunate that less than 80 % of eligible veterans or their widows have applied for this tax-free benefit, which can be up to $2,054/month for a married veteran. 

Question:
Why have so few eligible veterans applied?

Answer:
There are a number of reasons.  The VA is underfunded, understaffed and dedicates most of its energy to processing in-service claims for the thousands of injured veterans just returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. In spite of this congressionally mandated benefit and the available funding, “Aid & Attendance” is on the VA backburner.  The Winston-Salem, NC claims office has currently over 50,000 in-service claims filed with an average wait time of over 315 days.  Within the past year, the wait time has only been reduced by 25 days for veterans filing for the first time.

The claims process, itself, is confusing, and the questions are difficult to understand without the assistance of a professional.  The VA website, where one may file online, is very confusing with literally dozens of links to hundreds of  references.  The 12-page online VA Form 21-526 is 12 pages in length, with the first four pages being instructions for completing the dual use application. 

Finally, the aged WWII veteran sitting in an assisted living facility or being cared for by his spouse or children isn’t on the radar like the recently returned veteran.  There are few persons trying to help or assist with obtaining this benefit.  I don’t like to say it, but the older veterans have been forgotten.

Question:
How does a veteran qualify for the “Aid and Attendance” pension benefit?

Answer:
Apart from a medical condition, the VA is interested in gross annual household income, medical expenses and household assets.  It is interesting that nowhere on the application is there any mention of the determining factors.  The veteran is simply asked to provide medical information and financial figures along with supporting documentation, and a determination will be made by the VA.  The VA considers veterans’ household assets with a cap of $80,000 in net worth, but it may consider the liquidity of such assets in determining whether to disqualify or partially disqualify a veteran for benefits.  However, the VA is not bound by the $80,000 figure and may disqualify a veteran with even less than $80,000 in household assets. 

Question:
How do you recommend a veteran or his family member negotiate this “quagmire”?

Answer:
To answer that question, I have to explain that there are two ways to apply for “Aid and Attendance”.

1.  An applicant may deal directly with the VA or a VSO (Veterans Service Organization).  The VA or VSO employee will provide guidance in filing the necessary form along with qualifying documentation. However, the VA or VSO employee has no real interest in whether the applicant qualifies or not.  Their sole duty is to see that the VA Form 21-526 is properly submitted.  The VA will in turn either approve or deny your claim based on the submitted form.  You have the right to appeal.

2.  An applicant may have a VA Form 21-526 submitted by a VA-Accredited Claims Agent.  This individual may be either an attorney or a non-attorney.  I usually recommend a non-attorney Claims Agent working side-by-side with a VA-Accredited attorney.  Because most VA benefit planning generally involves both financial considerations and the interplay of legal documentation, I think the non-attorney financial consultant/attorney approach is most beneficial.

Question:
What are the costs associated with hiring a VA-Accredited Claims Agent? 

Answer:
No one may charge to file an application on behalf of a veteran.  However, the law does not preclude an agent charging a client for education and otherwise preparing the client such that he will be able to submit a claim form that will likely be approved by the VA.  No Claims Agent can guarantee the action of the VA; however, pre-knowledge of the most common determinants prior to filing is a huge benefit to the applicant.  As opposed to a VA or an VSO employee, a VA-Accredited Claims Agent is interested in the client’s success.   

As a guideline, I would suggest that an applicant contract for pre-planning assistance with an idea of paying in the $100’s, not $1,000’s of dollars.  There just isn't that much planning involved justifying $1000’s of dollars.  If considerable legal documentation is entailed; naturally, the client may have to pay a bit more. 

Question:
Other than VA accreditation, are there other professional qualifications that you would recommend?

Answer:
Absolutely!  A knowledge of Medicaid planning is critical to successful VA benefit planning.  Because the irrevocable assignment of a VA benefit may permanently disqualify someone from Medicaid, this must be an important consideration.  The VA, unlike Medicaid, does not have a look back period for the transfer of assets.  Medicaid, however, imposes a 5-year look back period.  If one were to qualify for VA benefits by transferring assets within a 5-year period, this could disqualify one from qualifying for Medicaid which is a superior benefit.  There are also some financial products which meet VA qualifications that may not meet Medicaid standards, as is also with various techniques involving beneficiary designation.

Question:
Do you see any legislative action on the near horizon that could affect VA benefit planning?

Answer:
Yes, again!  Congressional members have been talking recently about imposing a 3-year look back period for the transfer of assets to qualify for the “Aid and Attendance” benefit.  This would not preclude planning, but would make pre-planning even more important. 

Question:
Do you have any recommendations for selecting either an attorney or non-attorney for VA pre-planning needs?

Answer:
I will answer this question by stating that the VA likes to receive applications that they can ‘fast track’.  They want applications that are fully submitted by an agent with a reputation for complete, fully documented submissions.

I would ask an agent for copies of letters from the VA indicating the award of benefits within a reasonable time period.  I would want an agent who has successfully submitted and had approved at least 200-300 applications.  I would want an agent who works with a VA-Accredited attorney who is, also, familiar with NC Medicaid regulations and willing to submit a Medicaid application if necessary.


Copyright © 2013 by Horace T Bone.  All rights reserved.  No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without previous written permission from the author.