Aid And Attendance For My Non-Sc Spouse

[Carl the Engineer]

Ok, I knew this was probably going to get screwed up.

I submitted a claim on 5/22 for A&A for my disabled spouse whom I take care of.

I submitted the appropriate VA form, her SSDI paperwork and letters from two of her doctors.

It moved to "Gathering of Evidence" today and they are requesting "1" thing from me;

"In support of your claim for special monthly compensation, we need medical evidence showing at least one of the following due to service connected conditions: you need the aid and attendance of another person in performing your activities of daily living; are severely visually impaired; are permanently housebound; or have loss (or loss of use) of certain body parts."

It would seem by this request, they are assuming I am asking for A&A for myself, the veteran.

I'm hoping this is just a generic response for A&A.

I'll see what comes in the mail. I have a due date of 7/23, so I have a little time.

They got all of the info on my wife, but maybe this was directed at her??

Oh, well,

Hamslice

[Carl the Engineer]

FYI, this is for 70% without children, i.e., a $104.00 a month extra.....

[Berta]

Our member Cherie here received an allowance for Aid and Attendance for her spouse:



But I have not found a single regulation yet for A & A for living spouses, only for surviving spouses..

I hope someone here knows what the regulation is.

I have a friend whose father in law is applying for a VA pension and I also cant find anything as to, if the spouse could receive A & A under the pension program. His wife (his caretaker) has suddenly become very ill.

What is the form number you used?

Do you have a vet rep?

It does seem that they think you are applying for yourself and that could really add time to the application.

Has your wife's physician stated yet that she is housebound or falls into the A & A criteria?

[broncovet]

Its in 38 CFR 3.351:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/38/3.351

3.351 Special monthly dependency and indemnity compensation, death compensation, pension and spouse's compensation ratings.

(a) General. This section sets forth criteria for determining whether:

(1) Increased pension is payable to a veteran by reason of need for aid and attendance or by reason of being housebound.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1521(d), (e))

(2) Increased compensation is payable to a veteran by reason of the veteran's spouse being in need of aid and attendance.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1115(1)(E))

(3) Increased dependency and indemnity compensation is payable to a surviving spouse or parent by reason of being in need of aid and attendance.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1311©, 1315(h))

(4) Increased dependency and indemnity compensation is payable to a surviving spouse who is not in need of aid and attendance but is housebound.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1311(d))

(5) Increased pension is payable to a surviving spouse by reason of need for aid and attendance, or if not in need of aid and attendance, by reason of being housebound.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1541(d), (e))

(6) Increased death compensation is payable to a surviving spouse by reason of being in need of aid and attendance.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1122)

(b) Aid and attendance; need. Need for aid and attendance means helplessness or being so nearly helpless as to require the regular aid and attendance of another person. The criteria set forth in paragraph © of this section will be applied in determining whether such need exists.

© Aid and attendance; criteria. The veteran, spouse, surviving spouse or parent will be considered in need of regular aid and attendance if he or she:

(1) Is blind or so nearly blind as to have corrected visual acuity of 5/200 or less, in both eyes, or concentric contraction of the visual field to 5 degrees or less; or

(2) Is a patient in a nursing home because of mental or physical incapacity; or

(3) Establishes a factual need for aid and attendance under the criteria set forth in §3.352(a).

Edited June 24, 2015 by broncovet

[broncovet]

As usual, we can count on VA to mess this one up, too, just like they do for Veterans. The VA is probably gonna try stuff like "interpreting" this to mean the spouse and dependent children all have to be Veterans, even tho it does not say anything close to that. The VA squandered an additional 3 billion dollars or so on hospital construction in Aurora, so they have to get that money from somewhere. Guess where.

[Berta]

Thanks Broncovet.....

As I see it ,if my friend's Father in Law is eligible for Pension, his spouse would not be eligible for any A & A benefits for herself, unless he dies.

These are people in their 80s.

It sounds to me like the Father In Law had been eligible for pension for quite some time, but no one ever advised him to apply.

My friend , a vet, works for the VA, which sure doesn't mean all VA employees really know the C & P regs.

I just found out recently that the Father In Law was a vet and I hope his period of service puts him into the Korean Wartime criteria.

As parents age they forget info that ,in the long wrong, could be critical to a VA claim.

They also can misplace important documents and , in this case the FIL has dementia and there seems to be no way for him to be service connected.,so I hope he can receive a VA pension.

I think there are Offices of the Aging that might be involved in getting help for anyone in their predicament.And their church is helping too but I wonder how long the pension app will take... a state rep has an appointment with them in about a week and I passed on to them the pension app so they know what info the state rep will need to have.

I just found out that,in cases of pension regarding a vet with dementia, they will need a fiduciary.The spouse has becvome so ill, that hopefully the daughter can become the fiduciary but it seems like just one more thing that might take time.....then again, if I had known more of this situation sooner, maybe the vet would have the VA pension by now.

I didnt know he was a wartime vet and sure didn't know how very low their income was.

It shocks me sometimes to realize that families of vets, as well as even vets themselves, are not aware of all that VA might have to offer them.

[Pete53]

It is not easy to get my wife was turned down and she has two hip replacements, uses walker, needs help with daily living requirements, can't drive and a MD wrote up her paperwork and she was turned down. I need to appeal it just have not gotten around to it. By the way the turn down was short and sweet with no reason or basis.