VA Aide and Attendance -How to You Get It?

 In the 4^th edition of the Handbook of Geriatric Care Management , we include a new chapter on GCM’s accessing VA benefits. The chapter talks about two benefits that are many times frustrating to access for geriatric care managers.

These are the VA Aide and Attendance A&A) and household payments .

The Aide and Attendance and housebound payments are designed to provide financial support to offset the cost of providing in-home or residential care to a veteran and/or their spouse. Benefits payouts can range from a little over a thousand dollars per month for a spouse to over two thousand dollars per month for a combined payment the household. It is estimated that these benefits are currently severely underutilized by older veterans and their families who qualify for these payments but are not yet accessing them.

The application process for these programs is facilitated by regional VA offices and requires medical documentation of care needs.

Geriatric Care Managers need to access these benefits and do research on how to apply for them for an older veteran.