What I feared happened, the VA is saying no to the Independent Living place Mom was moved to. Has this happened to you?
A friend who I trusted to be able to help with this issue helped me get Mom into an independent living place. The place told this friend they qualified for Aid & Attendance. Since Mom has only Soc Sec, a sister of hers is floating her until the benefit is approved, an arrangement the IL place encourages.
But the rep at the VA has already told my friend that this IL place will not qualify. The place misled us because on confronting them with this new problem, they've suggested an almost fraudulent "work-around" that neither I nor my friend is comfortable with.
We JUST moved Mom in lightning time from my house to this IL place and now have to try to scramble for another place before the end of the month. The back-up place we found is well-known by my family (had three relatives there over the decades) and is acceptable to the VA but is further away from all of us in another city.
I feel like trying to solve these problems will never end!
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- Mom should qualify for Aid and Attendance. Should I try on my own or pay $1900 to have VA Accredited Representative assist?
The daughter testified how someone assured her mother and father they could get Aid & Attendance to pay rent at an Independent Living facility. Her 90 year old parents sold their house and moved to the independent living. Then her mother died, and the VA denied her father’s application for Aid & Attendance because he was healthy and did not need the Aid & Attendance level of care. The veteran did not understand the medical rules for Aid & Attendance when he decided to sell the house and move to the facility.
The veteran or surviving spouse must need assistance with activities of daily living. Proof of the need for attendance from a doctor’s evaluation of the veteran, or surviving spouse is required. It’s very important that the medical evidence be
reviewed by someone familiar with the VA. Even if the veteran or spouse does qualify, if the applicant’s medical needs are not explained properly, the VA case worker may deny the application.
The VA published a letter in 2012 that discusses Room and Board as a Deductible Unreimbursed Medical Expense:
http://masshealthhelp.com/pdf/2012_VA_letter.pdf
But without experienced assistance with the application process, the VA rules are difficult to understand.
Thank you for posting your mother's story. It will raise awareness, and may help other people avoid these serious difficulties that you are going through.
The workaround that the first place recommended would also commit whoever signed an agreement to provide care and help with ADL to Mom (and then hire the facility) to paying taxes on income. Money would go from the VA to Mom, from Mom to the caregiver, from the caregiver to the IL place. The caregiver would be required to pay income tax on those payments. No one in the family can afford that.
It took us this long (2 months) to get the application submitted to the VA (gather documents, meet with VA rep) and all is in order accirding to our VA counselor. We expect an answer no earlier than December 2014. It could even be later. This is a long process.