Mom (89) is living with sister and needing more home care. Can we get help?

A housebound surviving spouse with no dependents can have no more than $10,217 annual income in order to get VA Aid and Attendance. VA deducts certain expenses paid by you, e.g., unreimbursed medical expenses, from your annual household income, which will decrease your countable income and increase your monthly pension payment.

One way to check on this would be to call social services in your county and ask for a needs assessment for your mother. No doubt she has too much income to qualify for some programs, but the worker will be able to tell you if there are any programs she might be eligible for. The Medicaid stay-at-home program (called Elderly Waiver in my state) is a possibility. My husband's income was too high for this but he still got services and had to pay a certain amount each month while Medicaid picked up the rest. (Kind of like a deductible.) So don't merely look at a chart of allowable income, but actually talk to a professional who understands all the exceptions and work-arounds.

Hi ClaudiaMetz,

Please click on the link below to go to our senior living page on AgingCare.com. Here you will find a drop down menu at the top of the page that will allow you to search for Home Care in the Louisville, KY area. I've also put a link to our Home Care eBook. It gives you a step by step on how to go about home care and on page 17 goes into more detail about home care financial coverage.

https://www.agingcare.com/Home-Care

https://www.agingcare.com/eBook/Home-Care

Hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Ashley T.
The AgingCare.com Team