Special veterans’ benefits

By Donald H. Mustard
Published: November 10, 2008

Editor’s note: On this day when we honor veterans, one way to offer meaningful and long-lasting thanks for their service is to be of service to them. Columnist Donald H. Mustard — himself a veteran — lets veterans know about special benefits to which they and eligible family members might be entitled. Veterans should have the option to apply for all benefits for which they are eligible; they earned them.

The veteran currently receiving VA service-connected disability compensation or the veteran and eligible family members in receipt of benefits under the Improved Pension Program may also be entitled to benefits provided in two other programs.

The receipt of service-connected disability compensation or pension benefits does not automatically entitle the veteran to receive benefits from these two special programs, however. In most cases, the veteran must submit a claim for benefits under either of these programs. These two programs, Aid and Attendance and Housebound, each have strict eligibility requirements, which must be met before VA will approve the additional benefit.

Aid and attendance
Need for aid and attendance will be considered to exist when the veteran is so nearly helpless that he cannot care for himself. For instance, he would not be able to dress or to undress, to keep clean and presentable, to feed himself, to attend to the wants of nature, and/or to protect himself from hazards and dangers incident to daily environment, or have a frequent need to adjust special prosthetic or orthopedic appliances.

It is not required that the need be constant, only that the services of another person to care for the veteran would be needed regularly. Total blindness or being bedridden meets the requirements for regular aid and attendance.

All conditions must be service-connected.

When a veteran is in need of a higher level of care — the absence of which would require hospitalization, nursing home, residential or other institutional care — the VA will provide a higher level of monthly aid and attendance allowance.

In this case, the term “need of a higher level of care” is considered to be the need of personal health care services provided on a daily basis in the veteran’s home by someone licensed to provide such services or who provides such services under the regular supervision of a licensed health care professional.
The VA will determine the existence of the need for such care.

Housebound
The service-connected housebound benefit is payable to a veteran, who has a single service-connected disability of 100 percent, and has additional service-connected disability or combination of disabilities independently rated at 60 percent or more; or in addition to his single service-connected disability regularly evaluated at 100 percent, the veteran is permanently housebound from service-connected causes. The veteran may be found to be permanently housebound if, as a result of his single 100-percent disability by itself or in combination with other service-connected disabilities, he will remain confined for the foreseeable future to his dwelling and immediate premises or, if institutionalized, to the ward of clinical areas.

Rates
The rates for a veteran determined by VA to be eligible for Aid and Attendance or Housebound benefits will be established by VA based on the severity of the service-connected disability or disabilities and the number of dependents.

For more information, contact VA at (800) 827-1000 or the service officer for DAV Chapter 8 and VFW Post 8184 at (434) -316-0229. The office, located in the Marine Corps League Building at 2337 Lakeside Drive, Lynchburg, is open for walk-ins on from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday and on Thursday by appointment.

wSource: Department of Veterans Affairs booklet, “Federal Benefits for Veterans and Dependents,” 2008