We created this short video to provide awareness to military veterans and their spouses about how to receive in-home care at no cost to them.
The contact information for local Veteran Services Counselors in Manatee County, FL is as follows:
Manatee County Veterans Services
Website: https://www.mymanatee.org/departments/neighborhood_services/veterans_services
Phone: (941) 745-3795
Video Transcript:
In this video, we're going to talk about how veterans and their spouses can receive in-home care at no cost to them. Let's go.
One thing that I'm really proud of as owner of this agency is our ability to service veterans. Thank you to each and every veteran that has proudly served this country. The goal of this video is to discuss a couple VA benefits available to veterans and in one case their spouses that will allow them to receive care in the home to allow them to continue to live safely at home at no cost to them. Examples of the care that I'm talking about are assistance with bathing, feeding, getting dressed, transfers, assistance with light housekeeping, running errands, etc.
There are many ways to seek guidance or get additional information on these benefits, which we're not going to cover in this video. However, at the end of this video, I'll provide you information on an invaluable free and local resource that you can reach out to get even more information on VA benefits, the ones that we're discussing here, as well as other VA benefits.
Veterans on VA health plans may be eligible for what are called Homemaker and Home Health Aide services, which fall under the umbrella of Home and Community Based Services with the VA. So, under this benefit, the services that a veteran is eligible for are going to be based on an assessment that is coordinated by the VA. Once those needs are determined, then a service provider such as Home Helpers that is contracted to provide services to veterans can then render the services.
In general, what happens is an authorization is sent to the provider that contains the requirements for care and the number of hours per week that the veteran is eligible for. I can tell you that typically what we're seeing is about 10 to 12 hours on average, per week for each veteran. In some cases, you'll see more hours. In some cases, you'll see less. But on average, I'd say it's about 10 to 12 hours.
So now let's talk about the very valuable Aid and Attendance Pension Benefit. This is a benefit that both veterans and their spouses can tap into to get compensation in the form of actual dollars that can be used towards in-home caregiving services, assisted living, and skilled nursing.
Okay, so a couple examples to give you are a married veteran can get up to $29,175 per year, and this is in the year 2022 that I'm filming this video. So $29,175 per year, which equates to $2,431 a month that can be used towards care. A surviving spouse as another example can get up to $15,185 of compensation, which equates to $1,317 per month. What an amazing and valuable benefit. And I’ve got to tell you that many veterans and their spouses aren't even aware of this benefit.
So, with the Aid and Attendance Pension Benefit, there are eligibility criteria. And I tend to group these in three categories. The first category being service requirements, the second category being age and medical, and the third being financial. So, with service requirements, the veteran must have served 90 days of active duty with one of those days being during a wartime period. And an important caveat is the one day during a wartime period does not mean they had to have been in combat. So, just that they served one day during that wartime period is enough. Also, the veteran has to have been honorably discharged.
Moving on to the age and medical eligibility criteria. The first is the veteran must be 65 years of age or older, okay? And then the second is that the veteran must require or need assistance with activities of daily living. So bathing, feeding, dressing, toileting, etc.
And then lastly is the financial and the VA will take a look at both assets and income. And this tends to become a little bit complex. And so my recommendation or advice to any veteran or family member of a veteran that is watching this video is to seek the advice of a knowledgeable person about this particular benefit. And I'm going to give you a resource at the end of this call that you can reach out to, but never assume that because of income or assets that a veteran is ineligible. Whether it's the resource that I'm going to give you or local attorneys, the veteran may be eligible, even if they've been told before that he or she is not eligible. So I just wanted to make that clear. If you have any questions, definitely reach out to me, because I certainly want to help you all, all the veterans in the community, as much as I can.
Remember, there are going to be a number of resources and ways to get help and information about VA benefits. But one resource I want to bring to your attention today are called Veteran Services Counselors. Depending on what state you live in, they're either at the state level or the county level. Here in Florida, they're at the county level.
So, in Manatee County, we have these Veteran Services Counselors at the county level, and they've got, I believe three offices. I tend to reach out to the office downtown. Okay, so they provide a free service to help with not only the benefits that I spoke about in this video today, but any VA benefits. So, I highly recommend to my veterans and spouses that are watching that you reach out to the local Veteran Services Counselors if you have questions. For those that are in Manatee County, I'll leave some information either in the comments for this video or in our blog, more information that you can use to reach out to the local Veteran Services Counselors.
I hope you enjoyed this video and I hope this video helps many veterans and their spouses receive the care that they need and deserve. Thank you again for watching and until next time.
HOME HELPERS OF BRADENTON
Home Helpers of Bradenton is one of the region's leading home care franchises specializing in comprehensive services for seniors. Home Helpers' sole mission is to make life easier for clients and their families. Based in Bradenton, Florida, the company serves all of Manatee County, including the communities of Anna Maria, Bradenton, Bradenton Beach, Ellenton, Holmes Beach, Lakewood Ranch, Longboat Key, Palmetto, and Parrish. For more information or to request a free in-home care assessment, contact our office at (941) 499-5946 or visit our website at www.homehelpershomecare.com/bradenton.
