Mother has been receiving VA Aid & Attendance since March 2014. On December 1 she was approved for Medicaid in NJ. I can't find anything in the VA's correspondence, Web site, etc., that says we have to notify the VA about the Medicaid approval, but I have heard that the A&A will eventually be reduced to $90. The state knows she's been receiving the A&A pension, which fortunately didn't disqualify her from being approved for Medicaid, so can I assume that the state somehow notifies the VA?
We notified the VA by phone in January that she was on Medicaid as of December.
We were told that all monies deposited to her account from December to when it was all settled would need to be returned to the VA.
It took nearly a year to close the claim. They requested we obtain and send paperwork from both the nursing home and assisted living to verify that she had been in one place or the other. About 30 days after they closed the claim, they sent a request for repayment of the overpayment of 12 months worth of A&A. They deducted $1080 (12 months x $90 per month) from the amount we had to return. Fortunately, we had been told by the VA about this so we knew not to spend any.
The $90 per month was considered a pension and goes to the NH with other pension and SS. It's not added to the personal needs money she receives ($67).
What we learned later was:
Notify them of the Medicaid in writing, certified, return receipt etc. Check online - there may even be a real form for this. Our notification got lost in the shuffle and delayed things about 6 months.
There is a form where you can request that they reduce the monthly benefit to $90 while they are processing the claim. This helps you avoid having a large sum building in her account. My big concern was when we got near the date of having to recertify her for Medicaid, and there was all this money we knew would be heading to the VA. Better to not have to deal with this stressor.
Good luck - get a cup of coffee and a good book ready when you call the VA for status checks.