Does anyone know about the Veteran's benefit called Aid and Attendance? How is it applied for?

I used to be a verterans service officer and when things at the VA continued to drag on and on, a quick call to your congressional representatives usually helped to speed up the process.

I had great success within a couple months with the help of veteransfinancial they are a financial services specializing in this, it was free and they helped me every step of the way with every form.

I too was a local vet rep for a while. Most files takes 6 months or more, The more Documentation you submit with the inintal application speeds things along. Also
the originazation that you choose to help with the case makes a diffence. Lets say you chose the American Legion you might get faster service than lets say the VFW.
Check it out and make a choice based on what you vet rep recommends. AL really
does work fast. (FYI). Good luck.

Aid and Attendance is Veteran's and even some spouses. If a veteran has served during war time and is disabled and has a rating for his disability he may apply for aid and attendance. This aid is to used for costs accociated with his or her disabilities such as transportation costs going to and from the doctors or hospital, paying someone to help with housework etc. How to apply? You can go to the us veterans web site and apply there or you can go to the nearest veterans office usually provided at all veteran hospital and clinics and in some states they have offices at each county. You will need the veterans DD214 (discharge papers) and all doc's related to the disability. You must be patient about waiting as it does take some time for this to go through, sometimes it can take a year but then they will pay retro to the time you applied. Also will there ask for the new booklet of benefits.
Goos Luck to you!

My husband applied for this at our local VA office for his mother---it is no joke about waiting to hear from the VA. I would not apply on line , go in person to the local office as the paperwork my husband originally filed was outdated. The very nice fellow at the office had to completely rework the info for him and it has been six months since the last paperwork was sent off to the VA.

I applied for my dad myself. It can be done but you must have all the information correct or they kick it back.. I also got my congressman to help me light a fire cracker under their butts to get me a quick answer.

The A & A as it is called can cover the cost of caregivers, even if the caregiver are the sons or daughters of the elder. Spouses cannot be compensated as caregivers, however.
Veterans only need to have spent one day of the minimum required service of 90 days during wartime. They do need help with daily living activities but do not need to be disabled.

Make other arrangement while waiting for VA to pay on benefits. My husband waited almost three years and trying to get the VA to reassess takes even longer and they usually deny anyway. Also, the VA computers are not connected to other computers in the military system so make sure you have documented evidence of the disability. Finally, an appointment will be made by the VA's doctors to determine your disability. It takes a very, very long time to get anything done from the VA. If you have a VA near you, go in person. Just keep bugging them until you hear an answer. I seriously think they hope WWII vets as well as Korean and Vietnam vets die before they get their benefits. My husband was in all three.

My dad applied for A & A by calling VA local office. He then had Dr appt at VA. They put him in touch with Veterans Service officer in our county.
She files everything after I did all his paperwork. After 6 months, he was awarded A & A, which he receives. Great, but the back pay is being held as he needs a fiduciary appointed, which should be a family member as he asked for. The VA just keeps opening and closing this part of the case. You can follow on line with a VA account that you will set up for your vet. When we go through the veterans service office, she just says that it is going "fine and normal. Just be patient and wait for a call or letter. He is 87 and may not have another year to wait for his back pay. I'll probably try the congressman approach soon. Good luck.

We applied for this for my mom and received our first check almost 9 months to the day after applying. Now 10 months into the process, we haven't yet received the retro pay. As I understand it, the cost of her care must exceed her income. We used an eldercare financial planner to help us and am not sure we would have made it without their expertise. There are lots of documents needed and some are quite confusing. Many assisted living facilities and nursing homes have someone on staff that can help with this. It was well worth the time and effort for the monthly benefit we're receiving. Good luck!