For Caregivers, About Caregivers, By Caregivers

[KimJo]

A friend of mine was recently contacted by a company that wanted her to attend a seminar. The subject of the seminar had to do with a benefit to veterans called the Veteran's Aid and Assistance Pension program.

She went to the seminar (which was held by a private company, not the Veteran's Aid and Assistance program itself.) The speaker there indicated that he felt he could help get her husband (a disabled veteran) into this program, even if her family's assets were over the qualifying limit for eligibility.

My friend was a bit skeptical and contacted the Veteran's Aid organization itself (www.veteranaid.org). Their representative suggested being aware that if the person/company hosting the seminar was trying to selling some investments, that they would likely have their own best interests at heart.

However, the Veteran's Aid and Assistance pension itself appears to be a real, if little-known, benefit available to qualifying veterans.

Just wondering if anyone out there has ever heard of this benefit and has qualified for it. If so, perhaps you have additional information that could benefit others and/or save them some time.

Best wishes,

[marlene cromwell]

Hello..
I have heard of the additional benefits for wartime veterans and their widows.

There is a tax free pension benfit to help with the cost of assisted living, nursing home or independent living with assistance.

There is a FREE service and this man has a website. He says that you may still qualify even if you have been turned down before.

It's American Retirement Solutions
His name is Joseph Vitale, though he is in Michigan. I don't know if he works outside of Michigan. His office is 810- 667-9360 Toll free is 866-667-9360
His website is www.americanretirementsolutions.com

I visited the website because of my mother. I think she would not qualify for it. The man who installed her VRI box (similar to Lifeline) gave her the flier.

The other website is through the VA and he has links for it too.

Go to www.veteransupportcenter.org

[rsrobbins]

The Veterans Aid & Attendance Improved Pension is indeed a very real, if not very well known, benefit. This a non-service connected disability pension award that is granted to qualifying veterans and their surviving spouses to help meet unreimbursed medical expenses if eligibility requirements are met.

I am a Certified Financial Planner with 20 years experience and 10 years experience practicing solely in the area of elder care financial planning including Medicaid and VA benefit eligibility.

The problem, as is so with many benefit programs, is that misinformation abounds and there are many unqualified and unscrupulous people trying to make a buck by “assisting” those in need with qualifying for this benefit.

There are, of course, many caring, qualified individuals but in general you will find that most of them are insurance agents who, as mentioned above, are offering to provide services for “free” but are really looking for the opportunity to sell a high commission annuity. A little later on, I will tell you of an egregious example I just came across last week.

I should also mention here that it is extremely important that if you seek advice make sure the person you are consulting has experience in both Medicaid and Veterans Aid and Attendance. Both benefits can be received at the same time but the financial requirements are different for each. If not careful, you could disqualify yourself from one program while qualifying for the other.

The Aid & Attendance Pension (A & A) may provide a maximum benefit of up to $1,645 per month for single veteran, up to $1,057 per month for a surviving spouse, and up to $1,950 per month for a veteran with a dependent (spouse).

Military, Medical, and Financial requirements must be met. To see details of all requirements please visit my website www.ralphrobbins.com. Briefly:

1. Military Service – The veteran must have served during an eligible period of war and have received at least a general discharge.
2. Medical Necessity – The veteran must require assistance with Activities of Daily Living or must require another to “….protect himself/herself from the hazards of their daily environment.”
3. Financial Requirements – The veteran must demonstrate financial need.

Many will be eligible for the A & A benefit without any financial planning. The best way to apply for A & A for those who do not need planning is to contact a local County Veteran Service Officer (http://nacvso.org/) or you can apply on-line yourself (http://vabenefits.vba.va.gov/vonapp/main.asp).

Keep in mind, however, (and this applies to all employees who work in government benefit programs) they will not assist you with solutions if the applicant is over-resourced. Moreover, when attempting to have a question answered it is not unusual to get ten different answers from ten different people.

Though many will qualify without planning, most will require it. Here’s why: In order to qualify for a full award as described above the applicant’s income and resources must be below prescribed amounts. These amounts are pretty low, but there are opportunities whereby financial situations can be legally restructured to meet eligibility requirements.

With respect to income, the applicant cannot receive more in adjusted income (in VA terms) than the benefit amount per month. For instance, if a veteran has more than $1,645 in income, then no award will be granted. What is unique about VA A & A, though, is that the applicant is permitted to deduct from gross income unreimbursed medical expenses. So, if the vet has unreimbursed medical expenses over $1,645 per month then he/she will likely qualify as long as the asset requirement is met.

My experience has been that if an applicant is not currently spending some portion of principal on unreimbursed medical expenses it is unlikely they will be eligible for a full award.

With respect to assets, requirements are bit more challenging. It is often repeated that the asset limit is $80k for couples and $50k for individuals. This is simply not true. The VA will calculate an “appropriate” amount of retained assets based on the following:

1. The applicant’s life expectancy.
2. The applicant’s unreimbursed medical expenses
3. The amount of the current estate

The VA case officer will then make a subjective decision as to the extent to which assets can be liquidated to support the applicant. In other words, based on the cost of care, is it reasonable that principal, expended over life expectancy, will satisfy any income deficiency. Therefore, a younger veteran with the same expenses as an older veteran may have a different asset retention limit than an older vet.

And this is where the advisor controversy comes in. There has recently been an influx of insurance agents attempting to “help” veterans learn about and apply for A & A benefits. In case you are not aware, the bar for becoming an insurance agent is quite low; requiring little or no knowledge about estate planning, retirement planning, investment management, or tax planning.

Make no mistake, there are some caring, well qualified insurance agents who may be of value but it has been my experience that if the only qualification one has is as an insurance agent, it is unlikely they will have the breadth and depth of knowledge to adequately advise you and you will probably be better served elsewhere.

Case in point: I met a 90 year old gentleman last week who is married to an 89 year old woman who has Alzheimer’s. They currently live in an assisted living facility in Florida. This WW2 vet was totally upset and depressed as his wife required more care than he could afford to give her.

A year ago, they were approached by a “nice young man” who is an Iraq vet now “helping” other veterans. Well this nice young man, now armed with his insurance license, told this gentleman he would help get them A & A. He charged the couple $500 in fees and then sold them a $75,000 deferred annuity in the wife’s name saying that they had to do this to qualify. I’m guessing that he made another $3,000 on the annuity.

Here’s the problem: Once the annuity was sold, they never heard from him again. After repeated phone calls and letters, the vet’s son finally had to fly up from the Virgin Islands to sort things out. The worst of it? Not only did this insurance agent disappear, but he did absolutely the wrong thing in selling the wife the annuity and this transaction would not help them qualify at all. In fact they will in all likelihood have to surrender that annuity policy at a substantial loss in order for the wife to qualify for Medicaid (which was part of my solution in addition to applying – properly – for A & A).

(By the way, even if they kept the deferred annuity he was being harmed as he needed access to the principal to pay expenses. Every time he makes a withdrawal from the annuity – after an initial 10% free withdrawal – he is charged a 7% penalty. OUCH!)

A & A is a tremendous, little known benefit that can provide life changing money for those who need help with caregiving expenses. What’s really terrific is that in some state (like Florida) you can combine A & A with a long-term care diversion program and, combined with the applicant’s income, could pay the entire cost of assisted living.

For more information on the Veterans Aid and Attendance Improved Pension or Medicaid in Florida and how these programs can help pay for home, assisted living, and nursing home care please visit me www.RalphRobbins.com or write me RalphRobbinsCFP@RalphRobbins.com