Questions On Home Bound / Aid Attendance

[grent]

I have a question for the forum

i went to one of these VA satelite health stations and during my interview i asked about homebound and a and a

they told me a and a and home bound are both based on income . I would not get either because im a 100% P and T

Not very nice people at all!!

They told me also VA does not pay for out patient exams at private hospitals. Like a cardio exam or rectal exams colon examination

i said well what about fee basis? they said no!

any thoughts here.

[Testvet]

they have gone both routes on me depending on VA doctor access at the time of the referral by my Primary Care doc, they need a reason to send you to a cardiac doc, and or colonoscopy the rules on housebound is normally where a veteran has one SC issue at 100% and one or more issues rated 60% or more and they pay at the SMC S rate how the other rates come into play I don't know and I am just grateful I ain't that messed up to find out, I have been hospitalized a lot last year due to heart attacks and Congestive heart failure and the VA has paid all of the bills, they even sent me to Providence to have the biventricular pacemaker installed in Sep my wife has dealt with most of this stuff, I get to frustrated dealing with financial issues and pretty much anything dealing with the VARO........

[Teac]

1. Housebound and Aid & Attendance approvals are not based on income.

a. housebound is awarded based on: actual need, or if someone is rated 100% (including TDIU) and has additional and seperte disability at 60%.

b. Aid & Attendance is awarded based on: the actual need, it is for those who need help in everday living in areas of dressing, preparing foods, housecleaning, feeding, keeping oneself clean etc.. there are different levels of A&A depending on the veteans disability and ratings. A&A requires a 100% rating, although this is not spelled out in the rules.

c. War time Veterans with non-service connected Pensions and over age 65 also get an automatic award of Housebound without regard to actual needs...

2. The VA does not as a normal practice provide exams at VA cost in private faculities. However, in cases were treatment is not available, or the waiting list is long the va does provide for fee basis services at private doctors and treatment faculities. Normally these fee basis services are limited in nature; for example two or three treatments for a specific conditon. I don't know of any case where any veteran would get fee basis care for primary care treatment, it is usually reserved for speciality care not immediately available at a va treatment faculity and it as I said is limited in scope....fee basis is were the veteran is issued a card or letter authorizing treatment at a private faculity and this acts as the authority for the faculity to bill the VA. It is not for retoractive treatment, nor is it for emergency treatment.

Hope this answers your questions.

Edited February 17, 2012 by Teac

[john999]

It bugs me that the VA is so ignorant they don't know their own regulations.