Help paying for home care: VA Aid & Attendance
Many veterans and surviving spouses do not realise a VA benefit may help cover non-medical home care. Here is what it is, who to ask, and what we can do to support a claim.
Aid & Attendance is an increased monthly VA pension for qualifying wartime veterans and surviving spouses who need help with everyday activities. Where it is awarded, families commonly use it towards the cost of non-medical home care. Westmark does not determine eligibility and does not file VA claims — but we do provide the invoices and care logs the VA asks for, and we can point you to the people who handle claims properly.
What the benefit is
Aid & Attendance is not a separate programme but an increase to a VA pension, paid monthly, for those who need the regular assistance of another person with activities such as bathing, dressing, eating or managing medication. Eligibility depends on service history, the level of care needed, and financial factors including income and net worth.
TODO: insert the current maximum annual pension rates (MAPR) for a veteran, a veteran with one dependent, and a surviving spouse, together with the effective date and a link to the VA's published rate table. Do not publish figures without checking them against the VA's current tables — these change annually.
Who decides eligibility
The VA does, and only the VA. Any agency that tells you it can guarantee an award, or offers to determine your eligibility, is overstepping. We are a care provider, not an accredited representative, and we will not guess at whether you qualify.
The right people to speak to are free:
- Your town's Veterans Service Officer (VSO). Every Massachusetts municipality has one, and they help residents with state and federal benefits at no charge. Call your town hall and ask for the Veterans Services department — this is the single best first call.
- A VA-accredited agent, attorney or veterans service organisation. Accredited representatives can prepare and file a claim. Charging a fee simply to help you file an initial claim is not permitted.
- The Massachusetts Department of Veterans' Services, which oversees the VSO network and administers state benefits.
What Westmark provides
Where a claim depends on documenting the cost of care, paperwork matters. We supply:
- Itemised invoices showing dates of service, hours, the type of care provided and the rate charged.
- Care logs recording which activities of daily living the caregiver assisted with on each visit.
- A written service agreement setting out the schedule and rates.
- Prompt copies on request, to you or to whoever is preparing the claim.
Because awards can take months and may be backdated, families sometimes begin care before a decision arrives. That is a financial decision only you can make; we will keep the documentation clean either way.
A caution worth stating plainly
There are businesses that charge veterans substantial fees to "qualify" them for this benefit, sometimes by moving assets into products that carry penalties of their own. Please speak to your town's VSO — for free — before paying anyone for help with a VA claim.
We will keep the paperwork straight
Whatever the VA decides, your invoices and care logs will be in order.