When I sent the VA stuff in for my mother (widow applying for the first time for aid when she was 85), I went to a local VA office housed in an Aging Disability Resource Center in my city. The staff worker helped immensedly with the paperwork. He stamped the application before he faxed it for me, which was the date that the payments were retroactive to. For me, that served as confirmation. Between that time and the time the payments came, a regional VA representative contacted me and then paid a home visit to meet my mother and explain how the payments work, how I set up the fudiciary account, etc. (That is because she resided with us.) Then after 2 years when she went to a memory care facility, I contaced the VA representative to tell him about her change of address and to inform him that I was accumulating the monthly funds and when I had enough saved for one month of care, I would send a check. Now I will be contacting him again when my mother qualifies for Medicaid as the VA payments will be set up to help offset her care there and be paid through a case worker assigned to us. I hope that helps.
FYI, I went 7 times to the local VA office and the paperwork for help/questions, etc. and the application was returned twice from the state office before being accepted. Even the Medicaid paperwork that was reviewed by the local Aging Resource Center and acknowledged as having everything intact needed 2 more proofs of information when the state medicaid office received the application. I am only telling you these things because I want you to really be proactive because I have found everything takes a lot longer than you think. And it doesn't hurt to call and check on things along the way. Don't assume. I turned in the Medicaid application on Feb. 2nd and informed a contact person at the Aging Resource Center that I did that and still received a phone call several weeks later that she had not seen the application. And I live in a relatively small city... I can't imagine the caseloads, etc. in larger cities.
It is so true about what you said about everything taking longer than you think it should take. What you posted above is very good information for many of us.
FYI, I went 7 times to the local VA office and the paperwork for help/questions, etc. and the application was returned twice from the state office before being accepted. Even the Medicaid paperwork that was reviewed by the local Aging Resource Center and acknowledged as having everything intact needed 2 more proofs of information when the state medicaid office received the application. I am only telling you these things because I want you to really be proactive because I have found everything takes a lot longer than you think. And it doesn't hurt to call and check on things along the way. Don't assume. I turned in the Medicaid application on Feb. 2nd and informed a contact person at the Aging Resource Center that I did that and still received a phone call several weeks later that she had not seen the application. And I live in a relatively small city... I can't imagine the caseloads, etc. in larger cities.
GOOD LUCK!