Lawyers for Wartime Veterans

Unofficial VA Wartime Veteran Pension Rate

Each year the Presidential of the United States decides whether there will be a cost of living adjustment (COLA) to Social Security benefits. The Veterans Administration then mirrors the COLA for Improved Pension benefits. For several years there wasn’t a COLA increase.  For 2015, the increase is 1.7%.

For VA benefits, the increase begins on December 1^st of each year.  Yet, the Veterans Administration does not formally “publish” the new rates until well into the first quarter of the next year.  When published, you can find the rates here for Veterans: http://www.benefits.va.gov/PENSION/current_rates_veteran_pen.asp and here for Widows of Veterans: http://www.benefits.va.gov/PENSION/current_rates_survivor_pen.asp.

Even though we won’t know the formal numbers for a few more months, we must still be able to advise our clients on what the “possible” numbers will be.  Therefore, I have taken the annual pension amounts and multiplied by 1.7%, and then rounded down, like the VA to get the Unofficial VA Pension Rates as detailed below, for your convenience:

2015 “Unofficial” VA Maximum Annual Pension Rates (1.7% increase from 2014)

Medical deduction 5% = $643 (single) / $842 (married)

 

Veteran                                                                     Annual                                      Monthly

Improved Pension

n  Single                                                                    12,867                                       1,072    

n  Married                                                                  16,851                                      1,404

Housebound

n  Single                                                                     15,725                                      1,310

n  Married                                                                   19,710                                      1,642

Aid and Attendance

n  Single                                                                      21,466                                      1,788

n  Married                                                                    25,447                                      2,120

Two Veterans Married to Each Other

Improved Pension                                                       16,851                                    1,404

Housebound

n  One                                                                          19,710                                   1,642    

n  Both                                                                          22,565                                   1,880

Aid and Attendance

n  One                                                                           25,447                                    2,120

n  One A/A and one H/B                                               28,299                                    2,358

n  Both A/A                                                                   34,049                                    2,837

Widows of Veterans (no dependents)

Medical deduction 5% = $431

Death Pension                                                              8,629                                         719

Housebound                                                                 10,547                                      878

Aid and Attendance                                                      13,794                                      1,149

For timely information about VA Pension Benefits, become a subscriber to Lawyers for Wartime Veterans and join us for our monthly webinar trainings. 

Victoria L. Collier, Certified Elder Law Attorney, Fellow of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Co-Founder, Lawyers with Purpose, LLC, and author of 47 Secret Veterans’ Benefits for Seniors…Benefits You Have Earned but Don’t Know About.

  

Personal Care Contracts And VA Aid And Attendance

The very essence of a Veteran applying for Improved Pension with Aid and Attendance is that the Veteran needs another person to assist with activities of daily living (ADLs). The VA recognizes only five of the six long-standing Medicare established ADLs.  The five the VA accepts are:

(1)   Eating (fork to mouth)

(2)   Dressing

(3)   Bathing

(4)   Toileting or incontinence

(5)   Transferring (like from a chair to a bed).

Tasks like medication monitoring and preparing special diets are “instrumental activities of daily living” and not considered when seeking the care level necessary to qualify for “Aid and Attendance.”

In many cases, the Veteran (or a Widow of a Veteran) still lives at home when receiving this level of care. Often it is a non-spouse family member providing the care. Sometimes the family member is paid and sometimes not. Clients seeking the VA Improved Pension with Aid and Attendance benefits do not regularly understand that they must meet an income limitation to qualify for the benefit.  Without medical expenses to draw down the income, the claim is denied due to excess income.

For example, a married Veteran applying for the Improved Pension with Aid and Attendance, in 2014 is permitted to have no more than $2,085 of gross monthly household income, which includes both the Veteran’s and the spouse’s income.  Income includes Social Security, pension, yearly minimum distribution from retirement accounts, and interest from investments (this list is not exhaustive).  Thus, it is easy to see that without qualifying medical expenses that would reduce the income, most Veterans would have excess income and not be eligible for the benefit. 

Home health care expenses are permissible deductions from income that can and should reduce the countable income.  As long as the claimant has been rated as either “housebound” or in need of “aid and attendance,” then a family member (non-spouses) may be considered an in-home attendant, but must be getting paid for their services.  Verification of payment is required (invoices, receipts, canceled checks).    Moreover, the caregiver must submit either a contract or a statement including how much is being charged, what the nature of the services include, who is receiving the services, and who is providing the services.  In addition to care, the caregiver may also provide and charge for assistance with light housekeeping.  However, the caregiver statement or contract should not make  any reference  to assistance  with paying bills because this is not “care” related and the contract will be rejected.

If you have a client who is a Veteran and lives at home, receiving assistance from a relative or friend, and could benefit from receiving tax free income from the VA to help pay for care, then advising them on formalizing the care relationship could be a great benefit to them.  To provide specific advice on how to qualify for a specific VA benefit, such as the Improved Pension with Aid and Attendance, the advocate must be accredited by the Veterans Administration, even if they are a lawyer.  Lawyers for Wartime Veterans, LLC provides training, software, and systems to assist VA Accredited agents, lawyers and non-lawyers, with competent advocacy.

Victoria L. Collier, Certified Elder Law Attorney, Fellow of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Co-Founder, Lawyers with Purpose, LLC, Co-Founder, Lawyers for Wartime Veterans, LLC and author of 47 Secret Veterans’ Benefits for Seniors…Benefits You Have Earned but Don’t Know About.