I thought this article was so important that I'm posting it on every Net forum I participate in. Please spread the word to those who might qualify for this important yet relatively unknown program:

War: One Thing It's Good For

WSJournal August 21, 2010

(Excerpted) Millions of families of wartime veterans are failing to take advantage of a little-known benefit that could help pay for long-term care.

The Department of Veterans Affairs' program is called the Aid-and-Attendance Benefit and pays a maximum of $1,949 a month to married veterans who qualify. Single veterans and surviving spouses may be eligible for smaller payments.

To qualify, veterans must have served at least 90 days of active military service, including at least one day during a war, and not have been discharged dishonorably. (The rules are stricter for wartime veterans who entered active duty starting Sept. 8, 1980.) They also must meet certain thresholds for medical need and financial need.

Almost 105,000 veterans were using the benefit as of last year, along with a large number of widows, according to the VA. But the pool of potential recipients could be much higher: 2.3 million veterans who served in World War II still are living, according to VA estimates, plus another 2.6 million who served in Korea and 7.7 million in Vietnam.

'This can be really important not only for older Americans, but also for their kids if they're trying to deal with mom and dad and how they're going to pay' for assisted-living and other long-term-care services, says Tom Pamperin, an associate deputy undersecretary in the VA's Veterans Benefits Administration.

The benefit has been underused, he says, because 'it doesn't occur to veterans in their 70s who may have had no encounter with the VA other than qualifying for a home loan 40 years ago that there are benefits payable to them.'

Their children often aren't aware of the benefit, either. A couple's actual income can't be higher than $23,396 ($19,736 for an individual or $12,681 for a veteran's widow or widower). That number may sound low, but veterans whose annual earnings exceed that amount still qualify if their income falls to that level after deducting unreimbursed medical expenses, such as the cost of assisted living, home health care, prescription drugs or insurance premiums. (The veteran is responsible for his or her first 5% of medical expenses, but Medicare Part B premiums usually take care of that requirement, Mr. Pamperin says.)

Generally, if the veteran has less than $80,000 in liquid assets, not including a home or personal car, 'we don't have to do a net-worth determination,' Mr. Pamperin says.

The medical thresholds include needing help from another person with functions required in everyday living, such as bathing, eating or dressing, or being bedridden, blind or a patient in an assisted-living facility or nursing home due to a mental or physical disability.

Veterans hoping to qualify can seek out free help through service groups, which they can find through a regional, state or county-level veterans office, Mr. Pamperin says.

Go to the VA website link below, click on 'Locations,' and then click on 'State Veteran Affairs offices,' 'Veterans Service Organizations' or 'Regional Benefits Offices.'

Here is a link that might be useful: Veterans Administration website