Aging Solutions Newsletter

February 2008

Caregiver Tip of the Month

Often overlooked VA benefit can pay
wartime veterans up to an additional $1,554 per month for
in-home care, assisted living and nursing home care

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA) offers a Special Pension with Aid and Attendance (A&A) benefit that is paid in addition to other VA pension benefits. Largely unknown, the A&A Special Pension can help pay for care in the home, in an assisted living facility, or in a nursing home. The A&A Special Pension is not dependent upon service-related injuries.

To qualify, a veteran, or his or her spouse or widow must:

require the regular assistance of another person to perform everyday functions and activities that people usually do without help. These include dressing and undressing, eating, bathing, and toileting; OR
be bedridden or need help to adjust to special prosthetic or orthopedic devices; OR
have a physical or mental injury or illness that requires regular assistance to protect them from hazards or dangers in their daily living environment.

Furthermore, veterans who entered active duty before September 8, 1980 (October 16, 1981 for officers):

must have served at least 90 days of active military service, ONE day of which was during a period of war, AND
must NOT have been dishonorably discharged.

Veterans who entered active duty on or after September 8, 1980 (October 16, 1981 for officers):

must have served at least 24 continuous months of active military service (or the period for which they were ordered to active duty if less than 24 months), ONE day of which was during a period of war, AND
must NOT have been dishonorably discharged.

Most wartime veterans who satisfy these requirements will be eligible for the A&A Special Pension that provides up to:

$1,554 per month for a wartime veteran; OR
$998 per month for a surviving spouse; OR
$1,842 per month for a qualifying couple.

Note: These amounts apply only to 2008; benefits are adjusted each year based on increases in the cost of living.

Because of the A&A Special Pension, many veterans will not have to live out their lives in Medicaid or VA nursing homes. Instead, assisted living will be an affordable option.

— How to apply for the A&A Special Pension —

You can call the VA using their toll-free number, or you can complete an application online through the VA's website. But, if you apply through the VA, you may have a long wait before finding out if you will receive the A&A Special Pension. The VA is overwhelmed with the lengthy applications and other work.

We strongly recommend that you work with the experts at Veterans-Express.com. They are much more knowledgeable than the so-called "experts" at the Veterans Administration and will guide you step-by-step through the application process. They also help veterans find affordable housing. Best of all, their help is FREE, with absolutely no strings attached.

BE CAREFUL: Other people and businesses claim to offer the same help for a fee of up to $1,200. But, they are no more successful than Veterans-Express.com.

A Final Note: Veterans who receive the A&A Special Pension may also qualify for:

FREE eyeglasses for life; and/or
FREE hearing aids for life.

To receive free eyeglasses and/or hearing aids, wait until you begin to receive the A&A Special Pension. Then contact the VA medical facility where you obtain medical treatment.

Find Eldercare for Your Loved Ones

We have partnered with ElderCarelink to help you find the right local eldercare services for your loved one. ElderCarelink has established a nationwide network of carefully screened eldercare providers and facilities. We are pleased to bring this referral service to you free of charge.

Within minutes of completing a brief Needs Survey, you will receive a detailed email report that list eldercare providers in your area who match your specific requirements. Last year alone, over 100,000 families utilized this service in their search for high-quality senior care.

We look forward to our family helping yours. Take a minute now to complete the Needs Survey and find the community that meets your family's needs. Let us assist you.

Our visitors ask ...

Q. How do you go about claiming your parents as dependants, not for tax purposes, but for insurance purposes? Insuring dependants is cheaper than what my retired parents pay now.

A. Your chances of claiming your parents as dependents for insurance purposes are iffy at best.

If you have an individual health insurance policy, you probably can't. But, check with the insurance agent from whom you purchased the policy, or call the insurance company directly.

If you have group insurance through your employer, or through your husband's employer, the answer is again probably not. But, check with your employer's Employee Benefits department just to be certain.

If you are asking because your parents are having difficulty paying for their retiree health insurance from their former employer, and one or both are age 65 or older, you might want to take a look at the Benefits CheckUp website. Benefits CheckUp is a service of the National Council on the Aging, a non-profit organization. It helps older adults quickly and easily find out which benefits they qualify for, and how to get them (many are available regardless of income).

This is a free service and is completely confidential. Simply complete the online questionnaire. It does not require your name, address, phone number, Social Security number, or any other information that could be used to identify you or your parents. In a few minutes, you'll have a list of programs for which you or your loved one most likely qualifies, including phone numbers and addresses. It also includes step-by-step instructions on how to apply for the benefits. To visit Benefits CheckUp, click on http://www.benefitscheckup.org/.

Finally, if your parent's combined income is below $20,535 and their total financial resources are less than $23,970, they may be able to get extra help to pay their Medicare prescription drug costs. For more information, click on http://www.benefitscheckuprx.org/. Once again, this is a free service and is completely confidential, just like the basic BenefitsCheckUp website. Simply complete the online questionnaire.

Daily Living Solutions

— products for seniors and the elderly —

As we grow older, it often becomes difficult to use many everyday products because of arthritis, disability or other conditions. If you or a loved one needs a little help – or a lot – here are practical and affordable solutions that make life a little easier – solutions that help people continue living independently in their own home. To help you find what you need, everything is sorted into convenient categories in our Solutions for Seniors section.

You will also find, usually at a substantial discount, hundreds of medical equipment items, home health care products for the elderly, disability assistive devices, and more.

Whether you are looking for yourself or a loved one, Solutions for Seniors offers a wide variety of products, supplies and accessories – raised toilet seats, safety rails, incontinence supplies, large-handle eating utensils, pain relief, diabetic supplies, pill splitters and crushers, big-button hearing-amplified telephones, canes, walkers, rollators, wheelchairs – and much more.

Caregiving – Finding the money for care at home

A variety of resources can help pay for care at home. We discuss these resources in some detail in our article 12 tips to help you find money (and free resources) for care at home.

Caregiver Tip #2

— Extra Help for Medicare's Prescription Drug Program —

BenefitsCheckUpRx.org can help you find out if your elderly loved one is eligible for extra help paying for their Medicare prescription drug costs. Generally speaking, their income must be less than $15,315 if single ($20,535 if married), and their financial resources must total less than $11,990 if single ($23,970 if married). People who qualify will have low or no deductibles, low or no premiums, no coverage gap (the infamous donut hole), and pay much less for their prescriptions.

Complete the online Medicare Rx extra help application to see if your loved one might be eligible for this valuable benefit. This is a free service and is completely confidential. It does not require your loved one's name, address, phone number, Social Security number, or any other information that could be used to identify them. At the same time, you can also find out if your loved one might be eligible for other programs that can help them with their health care and other costs. To begin, simply click on BenefitsCheckUpRx.org.

Caregiver Tip #3

— Tax Deductions for Medical Care —

(a timely reminder originally published in our February 2005 issue)

Facility-Based Care. All nursing homes, most assisted living facilities, and some independent living facilities (usually those that are part of a continuing care retirement community) provide some medical services for their residents. According to the Internal Revenue Code (Section 213), a portion of the fees paid to the facilities may qualify as a tax-deductible medical expense. The tax-deductible portion is often referred to as the medical care component. It applies even if a resident is not living in the facility primarily for medical reasons.

Early each year, each facility should provide its residents with a written statement that shows the medical care component. If your (or your loved one's) facility has not done so by mid-February, ask them to prepare the statement for you. You'll need it before you can finish filling out your (or your loved one's) tax returns.

Financial Support. If you provide more than half of your loved one's financial support, even if they live in their own home, you may be able to claim them as a dependent on your federal income tax return, and possibly deduct some of their medical expenses. See a qualified tax accountant for more guidance regarding the IRS requirements.

If your mother and/or father moves into your home, you might also qualify for a tax-deduction, regardless of whether you do or don't modify your home to accommodate them.

If you do modify your home, at least a portion of the expenses you incur for modifying your home COULD be deductible in the year you pay them. (FYI: Section 213 defines tax-deductible medical and dental expenses.) Whether you actually can deduct those expenses depends upon many variables including:

1. Does your mother or father qualify as your dependent for tax purposes?

2. Is your tax accountant intimately familiar with Section 213 as it pertains to qualified long-term care expenses? Or, can he or she read the Internal Revenue Code just as well as anyone else? (You want the first type of accountant!)

For more insight as to what the IRS rules are (including the definition of a dependent for tax purposes), Section 213 is explained in IRS Publication 502 (to see it, simply click on the underlined link – it may take a few minutes to download if you use a dial-up connection).

If any of these situations might apply to you, we highly recommend that you discuss them with a qualified tax accountant.