COMMUNITY RESOURCES AND SERVICES
L•L
COMMUNITY RESOURCES AND SERVICES
Getting Help Paying for Long Term Care Last month a woman came into my office and told me that her husband, who was paying thousands of dollars a month for long term care, had been denied for Medicaid because the couple’s life savings (that they held in an annuity) was too much and they would have to cash the annuity out and spend most of the money before Medicaid would help, leaving little for the wife to live on. I explained that was not necessarily true, and we contacted the annuity company to make some important changes to the annuity. Her husband was approved for Medicaid within a few weeks, even the couple still had the same amount of savings. Many families find it difficult or impossible to pay the high monthly cost of long term care. It can be especially difficult when one spouse needs long term care but the couple is hesitant to spend all the life savings on that spouse’s care when the healthier spouse may have many years of life left. However, it is possible to get help paying for care without becoming impoverished; but it is crucial to know how to qualify and use that help to your advantage.
50 BOISE AND THE TREASURE VALLEY – AUGUST 2021–2022
For veterans and their spouses there is a program often called Aid and Attendance that helps veterans and their spouses pay for long term care. Currently, a married veteran paying for nursing home care may qualify for up to $2,296 per month from the VA to help pay for that care. To qualify, in most situations a veteran needs to have served only 90 days of active duty, one day of which was during a period of war and cannot have had a dishonorable discharge. A veteran does not need to have a service-connected disability to qualify. There are rules about assets and income to qualify for a VA Aid and Attendance pension. Often, veterans are told they don’t qualify when they make an initial inquiry to the VA. However, before giving up, it is important that a family consult a VA accredited elder law attorney to check whether there is anything the veteran can do to change the financial situation and become eligible for the pension. A good advisor may be able to help the family make changes to become eligible.
