Program pays family members for taking care of Mom and Dad

Program pays family members for taking care of Mom and Dad
Written by Debra Sorensen news@toledofreepress.com
Looking for a way to help Mom and Dad pay for home care or assisted living? Perhaps you are their caregiver. Wouldn’t it be nice to receive some extra income to help you provide their care? There is financial help available for senior veterans and their spouses.

For veterans who served during a time of war, or for their surviving spouses, the Veterans Aid & Attendance Pension will pay additional income to cover long-term care costs. The great news about this program is that the 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.

Pension can provide an additional monthly income of up to $1,949 a month for a couple, $1,644 a month for a single veteran or $1,056 a month for a single surviving spouse of a veteran. This money can be used to help pay the cost of home care, adult day services, assisted living or nursing home services.

To reduce income to meet the income test for pension, a rating for “aid and attendance” or “housebound” is crucial. Not only does the rating significantly increase the benefit amount, but without a rating, room and board costs for assisted living are not deductible for purposes of reducing income. Only the much smaller assisted-living medical costs are deductible.
read more here
Program pays family members for taking care of Mom and Dad