Wes Coulson discusses what VA Aid and Attendance is and what qualifies someone for Aid and Attendance. Two factors, being legally blind or living in a nursing home, automatically qualify a veteran for Aid and Attendance. Having care needs can also qualify most veterans for Aid and Attendance benefits.
Hi, I’m Wes Coulson and this is your Elder Law Minute. You may have heard that there’s a pension benefit available through the Veterans’ Administration that is commonly known as “Aid and Attendance.” Maybe you’ve heard the name but you don’t know what it means to need aid and attendance. Well, actually it can mean one of several different things.
There are two automatic qualifiers. If you are blind or you are living in a nursing home, that’s all the VA needs to know; you need aid and attendance. The other definitions are based on care needs. If you have trouble getting dressed and undressed or keeping yourself clean and presentable; if you have continence issues, the way the VA delicately puts it “if you need help attending to the wants of nature;” or the last requirement is the catch-all that more people qualify under than the other ones combined is if you need help on a regular and ongoing basis to be kept safe from hazard or harm. So, if you meet any of those definitions, the VA is going to consider that you need aid and attendance. Thanks.
