Assisted Living Benefits for Veterans Can Be a Long-term Care Game Changer

As we age, the need for additional care often arises. Assisted Living Benefits for Veterans can help cover a substantial portion of the monthly fee for assisted living facilities.  It is important to note that not all assisted living facilities accept Medicaid, so it is crucial to find a facility that does.  This article will discuss two payment sources.  The first is Medicaid, which will generally pay $1,400-$1,600 a month toward an assisted living facility with which it is contracted.

How Assisted Living Benefits for Veterans Can Help Offset the Cost of Care in Assisted Living Facilities?

Assisted Living benefits for Veterans pay a number of different monthly amounts, based on the veteran or spouse’s situation. We will explore this in further detail.

The basic requirements to be eligible for Assisted living benefits for Veterans are that the individual must be at least 65, be a wartime veteran, and need or currently be receiving care.  However, individuals who have 100% VA disability are not eligible for Assisted Living Benefits for Veterans.

What is considered wartime when it comes to Assisted Living Benefits for Veterans?  World War II is defined as December 7, 1941-December 31,1946.  The Korean War is considered from June 27, 1950-January 31, 1955.  The Vietnam War is considered February 28, 1961-May 7, 1975 for veterans who served near or in Vietnam, and for all others it is considered August 5, 1964-May 7, 1975.  The Gulf Was is considered August 2,1990-present.

The amount of Assisted Living benefits for Veterans varies.  Two married veterans can receive $3,649 a month, while the surviving spouse of a veteran can receive $1,478 a month.  A veteran who has no spouse or children who are dependent can receive $2,300 a month, and a married couple where the veteran requires care can receive $2,727 a month.  If the veteran is healthy but the spouse requires care, the veteran qualifies for an Income Improvement Pension worth $1,750 a month.

To put it into perspective how helpful Assisted Living Benefits for Veterans can be, let’s talk about the monthly cost of an assisted living facility. A reputable, higher-end facility currently costs about $6,000 a month.  If you are a single veteran and receive $2,300 a month in Assisted Living benefits for Veterans, nearly 40% of your monthly bill is covered.  If you also receive Medicaid benefits of $1,600 a month, that jumps to 65% of your monthly bill covered.  That is a substantial amount of the monthly bill being covered, which will help you rest easier.

Final Word:

Platinum Benefit Services specializes in obtaining Medicaid benefits for our clients.  Over 27 years of service we have obtained over 14,000 approvals for our clients.  We work with an accredited VA expert who can help you get the Assisted Living Benefits for Veterans to which you are entitled.  Contact Platinum today to get all the help you need in obtaining Medicaid benefits and Assisted Living Benefits for Veterans.

Learn the Requirements for Medicaid for Nursing Home Care

Medicaid for Nursing Home Care can easily become overwhelming!  The Department of Children and Families is the agency that approves or denies applications, and they have stringent rules for Medicaid for Nursing Home Care.

Requirements for Medicaid for Nursing Home Care:

The monthly income threshold for Medicaid for Nursing Home Care is currently$2,829.  Income that is more than this amount has to be dealt with so that the applicant can meet the requirement. The Department of Children and Families counts income from any source.  Common examples of income sources are retirement pension income, social security income, VA benefits, investment account distributions, etc.  In the instance that a potential applicant’s income goes above $2,829 a month, a well-known and effective way of handling the extra income is to use a Qualified Income Trust.

The QIT has to be funded each month with the applicant’s extra income plus an advised cushion of up to a few hundred dollars.  This artificially decreases the applicant’s income to comply with the rules for Medicaid for Nursing Home Care.

The rationale for putting just the extra monthly income plus a cushion into the QIT is because when the applicant dies, the remaining money in there goes to the state.  For this reason, it is not advised to put the entirety of an applicant’s monthly income into a QIT.  It is crucial to understand that the QIT has to be funded each month with that month’s income.  When done properly, a QIT is an effective way to handle extra income so that the applicant can achieve Medicaid for Nursing Home Care.

DCF hasrules for countable assets for an applicant for Medicaid for Nursing Home Eligibility.  The countable asset limit is currently $2,000.  For married couples the rules are a bit different.  For an individual applicant that is married, the limit is $2,000 for the applicant and $154,140 for the community spouse.  

While a discussion for another time, this allows more options for asset protection strategies. “Countable” means that the assets count when deciding Medicaid for Nursing Home Care eligibility.  The aim of asset protection is to reconfigure these assets in order for them to be considered “non-countable” or “exempt” assets.  Non-countable assets do not count against the eligibility limit but can be collected from the state when the applicant dies.  Because of this, the best thing is to restructure countable assets to make them “exempt”, meaning they are not considered when determining Medicaid for Nursing Home Care eligibility and they are protected from collection when the applicant passes.

Over To You:

Does this sound terrible?  We are confident the answer is yes!  Thankfully, help is just around the corner. Platinum Benefit Services is here to assist you in obtaining Medicaid for Nursing Home Care!  In 27 years we have obtained more than 14,000 Medicaid approvals for our clients in conjunction with appropriate legal counsel.  We promise you that nobody is going to work more to ensure that you or a loved one’s assets are correctly configured to get Medicaid for Nursing Home Care than us.