Eligibility Requirements
Eligibility requirements vary by type of service or care setting and whether that service is provided or paid for by VA.
Home and Community Based Services are part of the VHA Medical Benefits Package. All enrolled Veteransare eligible if they have clinical need for the service and it is available.
- Home and Community Based Services may be used in combination with each other.
- Care must be ordered by a VA physician.
- You may be charged a co-payment for some Home and Community Based Services.
Nursing Home and Other Residential Settings options have different eligibility requirements for each setting. Some of these settings are provided or paid for by VA and some are not. You may be eligible to receive Home and Community Based Services while you are living in a residential setting.
> How do I find out if I am eligible?
How do I find out if I am eligible?
Learn more about long term care options that may meet your needs and preferences. Each Home and Community Based service and Nursing Home and other Residential Settings option described in the Guide includes an eligibility section, ‘Am I Eligible?’
Contact your social worker or case manager, nurse care manager or other providers at your local VA medical center.
Remember that your eligibility is based on clinical need and service or setting availability.
Eligibility for Home and Community Based Services
Since Home and Community Based Services are part of the VHA Medical Benefits Package, all enrolled Veterans are eligible IF they have clinical need for the service and it is available.
Click on each Home and Community Based Service and go to the section ‘Am I Eligible?’.
Remember that:
- Care for Home and Community Based Services must be ordered by a VA physician.
- A co-payment is charged for some Home and Community Based Services.
- Home and Community based Services may be used in combination with each other.
Eligibility for Nursing Home and Other Residential Settings
There are different eligibility requirements for each of these settings. Some of these residential settings are provided or paid for by VA and some are not.
Click on each Nursing Home or Other Residential Settings option and go to the section ‘Am I Eligible?’.
What is Aid and Attendance and Housebound Benefits?
These are financial payments that a Veteran can receive in addition to a monthly pension.
Who can get these benefits?
You must be receiving a VA pension in order to be eligible for Aid and Attendance or Housebound benefits.
Veterans cannot receive Aid and Attendance and Housebound benefits at the same time.
Eligibility for Aid and Attendance.
Veterans may be eligible for Aid and Attendance benefits when one or more of these items apply:
- Help from another person is needed to perform activities of daily living (e.g. bathing or getting dressed).
- The Veteran is bedridden.
- The Veteran is a patient in a nursing home due to mental or physical incapacity.
- The Veteran is blind.
Eligiblity for Housebound Benefits.
Veterans may be eligible for Housebound benefits when one or more of these items apply:
- The Veteran has a single permanent disability evaluated as 100% disabling and they are confined to their immediate premises due to the disability.
- The Veteran has a single permanent disability evaluated at 100% disabling and another disability, or disabilities, evaluated as 60% or more disabling.
To Apply for Benefits
You may apply for Aid and Attendance or Housebound benefits by filing a request with the VA regional office in your state or where you filed a claim for pension benefits.
You should include copies of any evidence, preferably a report from an attending physician validating the need for Aid and Attendance or Housebound type care.
The report should be in sufficientdetail to determine whether there is:
- Disease or injury producing physical or mental impairment
- Loss of coordination
- Conditions affecting your ability to dress and undress, to feed yourself, to attend to sanitary needs, and to keep yourself ordinarily clean and presentable
In addition, it is necessary to determine whether you are confined to your home or immediate premises. For either type of benefit, the report should indicate how well you get around, where you go, and what you are able to do during a typical day.
For more information, contact your VA Regional Office.
