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Sunny41 Asked May 2018

If a U.S. Veteran gifts his monthly Army Benefit Pension to his permanently disabled grandson can Medicaid still use that monthly amount to calculate his co-pay?

If gifted, is the pension still used to calculate an increase in his co-pay cost to the Nursing Home he currently resides?

Shane1124 May 2018
To clarify, do you mean the Vet doesn’t actually change the beneficiary to his grandson’s names but automatically transfers the money each month to his grandson? In this scenario I am not sure if this will be considered “gifting” his grandson money as that may effect the grandson’s Medicaid status as this will be considered monthly income.
I don’t think the Veteran  can legally have the pension money transferred to the grandson’s name to continue to receive the pension money. 
If you are asking if when the Vet passes away can the pension be transferred to the grandson, I think the pension ends with the Veteran’s death, thus no. 
 

GardenArtist May 2018
I think if the Veteran gives away his pension, he might lose it if the VA becomes aware of the situation. It's specifically for the Veteran; if he wants funds for the grandson (and I'm not even sure if the VA helps the second generation of a Veteran), it would be applied for specifically for that child.

Before doing anything, he should contact his VA social workers and ask about the issue to ensure he doesn't in fact lose his own pension.

Caveat: I'm not really knowledgable on this aspect of VA benefits, but I would hate to see someone lose funds to which he's entitled b/c he's trying to help a compromised family member. His thoughts are generous, but he could hurt himself financially.

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CarlaCB May 2018
I don't know about military pensions, but I do know that private (corporate) pension can not be transferred. There's a legal prohibition to what is called "assignment or alienation." Even if it could be done, I can't believe Medicaid would accept this. Which is to say, I can't believe they'd pay for the nursing home while he is gifting income that could be used for his care.

JoAnn29 May 2018
The Vet is still living? Has he talked to the VA to see if this is even allowed. I am under the impression that a Vets pension ends at his death. Unless, he has made previous arrangements for a pension for a spouse. When a person is on Medicaid for nursing home care all income goes towards their care. I would think this is how it would work. The money would be used to offset the cost of his care. This would be a Medicaid question.

My disabled nephew gets his late Moms Government pension monthly. She worked for NSA. I would think if he went into a home that pension and his SSD would be used to offset the cost and Medicaid picks up the balance. On the paperwork I filled out concerning my nephew getting his Moms pension, it listed people who could receive it, grandchild was not listed.

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