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Reviews of the Standard Edition

elderlaw\answers.com, April 25, 2007
http://www.elderlawanswers.com/resources/article.asp?id=6209&section=5&state=

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Description of the Standard Edition

This first-of-its kind publication reveals the little-known process of applying for a veterans benefit to help with the costs of long term care. This special benefit is officially called "pension" but is more popularly known as the "veterans aid and attendance pension benefit".

The book’s publisher -- The National Care Planning Council -- estimates that as much as 30% of the US population over the age of 65 would qualify for the aid and attendance pension benefit under the right circumstances. That's how many war veterans or surviving spouses of war veterans there are. Pension is such a well-kept secret that only a fraction of eligible veteran households are actually receiving it.

Pension can provide an additional monthly income of up to $1,800 a month for a couple, $1,520 a month for a single veteran or $976 a month for a single surviving spouse of a veteran. The majority of veteran households typically only qualify for pension when these households are incurring the high costs of home care, assisted living or nursing home care. Under certain conditions, VA considers these costs to be medical expenses.

When applying for pension, the local Veterans Affairs Regional Office will calculate the benefit based on yearly income adjusted for unreimbursed medical expenses. The secret for obtaining long-term-care-related, successful pension awards is understanding what is required in the form of documentation and evidence to adjust income for future, annualized unreimbursed medical expenses. VA does not disclose this vitally important step on the application nor tell callers over the phone how to do it. One simply has to know how. The book covers this vital step in detail.

Lacking the proper knowledge, a claimant may submit an application without the necessary medical expense documentation and evidence required for a successful award. This can be a costly mistake. If the claim is denied, according to the VA rules, the claimant must wait a full year before applying again.

The publisher of this book -- The National Care Planning Council -- and the editor -- Thomas Day -- have devoted much of the content to the pension application process. However, the book also covers other long term care benefits available to veterans that may be tied to those receiving pension. In addition, a chapter is devoted to veterans health benefits and related long term care services and another chapter is devoted to state veterans homes. Finally, a chapter also covers other disability and end-of-life veterans awards such as compensation, DIC and burial benefits.

Some claims may be denied because household assets are too high. Potential applicants can give away assets or convert those assets to income under certain conditions in order to qualify. There is no penalty to do this as there is with Medicaid. It is recommended that readers seek out a qualified veterans benefits specialist if assets may be a block to a successful award.

This book contains 209 pages and includes five chapters, an appendix and a form support section. The appendix includes contact lists of veterans service organizations, state veterans homes, VA regional offices and VA medical centers and associated clinics. All forms necessary for filing a claim are included in the form support section.

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About the Publisher -- National Care Planning Council
and the Editor -- Thomas Day

The National Care Planning Council is an alliance of care providers and advisors who promote and support planning for long term care. The council statement of purpose is as follows:

To promote a public awareness of the need for long term care planning.
To provide materials to educate the public on how to plan for long term care.
To provide training to members who help the public plan for long term care.
To promote the services and expertise of our members.
To provide a forum for members to share ideas and marketing strategies.

The book, "Veterans Aid and Attendance Benefit -- Long Term Care Benefits for Veterans," is an outgrowth of our statement of purpose. Over time, the council will produce or promote additional books, articles and planning guides to help the public do a better job of planning for long term care.

This book is the result of our editor, Thomas Day, spending five months, researching and presenting in a more understandable format, over 5,000 pages of government regulations and VA rules. Mr. Day also contacted organizations that are currently involved in the process of helping clients obtain pension benefits and the results of this research are also included in the book.

Thomas Day specializes in the area of long term care planning. He has 12 years of experience advising families about long term care issues. As director of the National Care Planning Council and chief spokesman for the Utah Eldercare Planning Council, Tom maintains a busy schedule writing, giving advice to concerned caregiving families and conducting radio and reporter interviews.

He is also responsible for maintaining several Internet sites one of which, http://www.longtermcarelink.net, is a frequently visited and popular site for long term care issues. The site currently is receiving the equivalent of 6 million hits a year. Tom is also busy writing articles and has completed three new books on long term care planning published by the National Care Planning Council.

Tom graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in physics and math and an MBA in finance. He holds a CLU designation from the American College. Tom and his wife Susan live in Centerville, Utah. They have seven children and 17 grandchildren.

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Table of Contents -- Standard Edition

CHAPTER 1 - Overview of Veterans Long Term Care Benefits

  About Long Term Care

  About the Department of Veterans Affairs

        Facts about the Department

        Chronological History of the Department of Veterans Affairs

  Veteran Demographics and the Need for Long Term Care

        Who Is a Veteran?

        How Many Veterans Need Long Term Care?

        Comments from the Armed Forces Veterans Homes Foundation

        Percent Distribution of Veterans by Age and Gender

        Percent Distribution of Veterans by Functional Limitation and Age

  VA Disability Programs

        Two Important Disability Programs

        More about Pension

        The VA Disability Survey

  About State Veterans Homes

  About Veterans Medical Care

CHAPTER 2 - State Veterans Homes

  About State Veterans Homes

  The Appeal of Living in a State Veterans Home

  Challenges for State Veterans Homes

  History of State Veterans Homes

  Challenges Facing the Construction of New Homes

  Nursing Home Daily Rates

  Services Available

  Eligibility and Application Requirements for State Veterans Homes

CHAPTER 3 - Veterans Health Care and Long Term Care Services

  The Best Health Care System in America

  Why the VA Health Care System Works so Well

  What is Veterans Health Care?

  Outpatient Pharmacy Services

  Veterans Health Administration Long Term Care Benefits

  Enrolling in the Veterans Health Care System

  Copayments for Medical Services -- Veterans Means Testing

CHAPTER 4 - Compensation, Pension, Death Benefits and Burial and Memorial Benefits

  About this Chapter

  Part 1

        Disability Compensation and SMC

        Dependency and Indemnity Compensation

        VA Pension

        Death Pension

        Burial and Memorial Benefits

  Part 2 Examples of How Pension Works

CHAPTER 5 - Making Application for Compensation, Pension, Death Benefits and HISA Grants

  Questions and Answers about the Claims Process

  Questions about Compensation Claims

  Questions about Pension Claims

  Application Forms for Compensation, Pension and Death Claims

  Important Things to Know for Receiving a Pension Award

  Submitting the Initial Claim

  Determining Veteran Status for Pension Claim

  Applying for a Rating

        Aid and Attendance or Housebound Ratings

        Submitting Evidence for the Ratings

  Unreimbursed Medical Expenses

        Basis for Allowing Unreimbursed Medical Expenses

        Allowable Medical Expenses Annualized for the 12 Month Future Benefit Period

              General Information and Claimant Certification

              Insurance Costs

              Nursing Home Costs

              Costs of Assisted living, Residential Care, Adult Day Care or Similar

              Home Care Costs

        Documentation of Home Care Expenses

  The Asset Test for Pension

  Death Claims and Special Benefits

        Death Benefits Available from VA Form 21-534

        Accrued benefits

        VA Burial Allowances

        Other Death Benefits Discussed in Greater Detail in Chapter 4

  HISA Grants

APPENDIX I -- Glossary and Lists

  Understanding the Special Language of VA

  Veterans Service Organizations

  2007 List of State Veterans Homes

  VA Medical Facilities and Regional Offices

SUPPORT PACKET

  VA Form 21-526 -- Veteran's Application for Compensation and/or Pension, Parts A,B,C, & D

  VA Form 21-534 -- Application for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, Death Pension and Accrued Benefits by a Surviving Spouse or Child (Including Death Compensation If Applicable)

  SF 180 -- Request Pertaining to Military Records (Used to obtain discharge record)

  VA Form 21-22a -- Appointment of Individual as Claimant's Representative (POA for claim)

  Form 1 -- Statement of Attending Physician (Used to determine rating for A&A or HB)

  Form 2 -- Care Provider Report (Used to provide evidence of recurring medical expenses)

  Form 3 -- Health Insurance Premiums (Used to provide evidence of recurring medical expenses)

  Form 4 -- Claimant's Certification (verifies out-of-pocket costs for unreimbursed medical expenses)

  VA Form 21-0779 -- Request for Nursing Home Information in Connection with Claim for Aid and Attendance

  VA Form 10-10EZ -- Application for Health Benefits (Veterans receiving pension are guaranteed health benefits without copayment)

  VA Form 10-0103 -- Veteran's Application for Assistance In Acquiring Home Improvement and Structural Alterations (HISA)

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Synopsis of the Standard Edition  (209 Pages)

FORWARD AND DISCLAIMER

This book is a first of its kind publication and as such there is no body of public knowledge to support the information contained here other than information derived from thousands of pages of government regulations and rules. Mistakes and misinterpretations may have been made and readers are invited to submit clarifications. The book does not give specific instructions on filling out and filing forms but only describes the necessary ingredients of the process and offers sample documents that could be used. This is done deliberately because VA rules prohibit anyone from charging a veteran to fill out and file a claim. The National Care Planning Council and its editor Thomas Day do not purport that this book represents any individual in the filing of that person's claim and the publisher and editor will not assume any responsibility for individual claims that are not successful.

PREFACE

Aid and attendance is a catchphrase for veterans pension. The benefit is usually awarded in conjunction with a medical rating where a person is declared in need of the "aid and attendance" of another person. The material in the book also addresses other veterans long term care benefits but the majority of the book is devoted to an in-depth treatment of the application process for pension.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Click here to view complete table of contents

CHAPTER 1 (12 pages)
Overview of Veterans Long Term Care Benefits

Discussion of the definition of long term care and how long term care is provided.

Facts and history of the Department of Veterans Affairs are presented

The term "veteran" is defined and the demographics of veterans and those needing long term care are examined

Two important veterans disability programs -- compensation and pension -- are discussed as an introduction for later chapters

State veterans homes are discussed as an introduction for another chapter

Veterans medical care is discussed as an introduction for another chapter

CHAPTER 2 (10 pages)
State Veterans Homes   

State veterans homes are jointly funded by VA and the individual states. There are approximately 135 of these homes nationwide and the majority of them offer nursing home services. The federal government and the states jointly provide monies to build these homes and VA subsidizes each veteran in one of these facilities with $67.71 a day.

Many of these homes are located in rural areas and are not readily accessible by the majority of veterans in a state. The reason veterans will uproot and move long distances to live in one of these facilities is dictated by a desire for camaraderie with other veterans, the lower cost-of-living in a veterans home and a desire to hold on to existing assets without having to sacrifice everything to Medicaid.

There is typically great demand for veterans homes beds and many states have waiting lists. Due to a lack of federal funding at least 130 homes are waiting to be built and based on current funding it may take up to 20 years to get all of those currently on the list constructed. New construction projects are being added every year.

Each state has its own criteria for veteran status and who can reside in that state's veterans homes. All homes have a requirement for application and unlike private sector nursing homes a potential resident cannot walk in the front door and arrange for a bed on the same day.

CHAPTER 3 (16 pages)
Veterans Health Care and Long Term Care Services

Quotes from media sources are provided to demonstrate that the VA health care system is considered the best medical care in America . A brief analysis of why this claim is valid is provided.

Veterans health care services are outlined, an example of the veterans health system is provided and numerous long term care benefits associated with health care are listed and explained.

Enrollment for health care is now limited to veterans who have service-connected disabilities, who are low income or who are receiving pension or Medicaid. There are eight enrollment priority groups based on the criteria mentioned. All other veterans are now excluded because of lack of federal funding. A veteran qualifying for the pension benefit explained in chapters 1, 4 and 5 is automatically guaranteed enrollment in the health-care system. This can be an advantage because copayments for medical care are waived and there is a possibility, based on income, that prescriptions are free as well.

Copayments for medical services and prescription drugs are outlined.

CHAPTER 4 (20 pages)
Compensation, Pension, Death Benefits and Burial and Memorial Benefits

Explanations and benefit amounts are provided for disability income benefits for active-duty veterans and active-duty veterans who served during a period of war. These benefits include compensation for veterans with service-connected disability and death benefits for survivors of such veterans. Pension and death pension are disability benefits for veterans and surviving spouses who do not have service-connected disabilities but who may qualify on the basis of nonservice connected disability or old-age.

Burial and Memorial benefits for all veterans are also described in detail.

The bulk of the chapter is taken up by five case examples illustrating how pension Works for veterans or veterans households in various long term care settings. These examples include a veteran couple, a single veteran and the surviving single spouse of a veteran. The care settings include home care, assisted living and nursing home care. Pension Benefits for each case are presented and a discussion on how these benefits dovetail with other long term care funding is provided.

CHAPTER 5 (56 pages)
Understanding the Claims Process for Compensation, Pension, Death Benefits and HISA Grants

This chapter provides more detail on compensation and pension and the application process for both. It also discusses another benefit for veterans receiving compensation or pension called a HISA grant.

The chapter discusses in great depth how pension is calculated, who is eligible, how income is counted and the effect of estate value on receiving an award.

Application, medical and documentation requirements are discussed in great detail. A thorough reading of this chapter leaves a potential applicant with little doubt as to what is required for a successful award for pension.

APPENDIX (55 pages)

Provides contact lists for the potential applicant

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