Lie #1: “I’m too overwhelmed with expenses already. Hiring a lawyer is just one more expense to add to the list.”

If hiring an attorney were just another added expense, I’d actually tell you not to come into my office.

It’s true.

The reason I’m an elder law attorney is because I want to see seniors leave my office better off than they were before they came to see me.

One of the biggest parts of my job is helping my clients safeguard some of their money from being used up on nursing home care.

But another equally large part of my work is assisting people to get benefits to help pay for their care!

Medicaid, which helps many seniors pay for care, is a complicated system. We’ll help you see how you may be able to qualify for benefits to pay for care. But it’s vital to know how you can use your money to minimize penalties.

It’s similar with Veteran’s benefits for senior vets. If you don’t qualify, the VA will just tell you “no.” By then, you’ve wasted months in the application process.

But if you’re working with a qualified elder law attorney who specializes in these complex areas, we’ll be able to show you which of your current expenses can be figured into your application.

This helps our clients get a “yes” answer much more often than if they file on their own… all while doing honest, legal work.

The difference is, we help you do things right so you have the best possible outcome.

(Plus, if your loved one with Alzheimer’s is a veteran or the widow of a veteran, ask me how you can get help with your application for Veteran’s benefits, absolutely FREE.)

I help my clients find out which benefits they might be able to qualify for.

And whether or not they qualify for a benefit, I help put the right shields in place for my clients to keep the most money.

There are two important things you should do from here:

First, I urge you to seek qualified counsel before filling out any applications for benefits.

Someone who is skilled in the area of Medicaid and VA will be able to help you get the maximum benefit available to you, without wasting months or years on multiple denied applications. You can’t afford to wait.

Second, if you want to learn more, visit my Alzheimer’s Legal Survival Guide at www.AlzheimersResourceKit.com/hammond/resources/legalguide.html.

To hear more about benefits, read items 51-69. There, you’ll find much more information about Medicaid. And with nursing home care ranging from $60,000 to $110,000 per year – or more – you can’t afford to be uninformed!

But if you’re like many of my clients, and you want answers now, you can call my office at (913) 338-5713.

In a short, cost-free phone consultation, one of my staff members will help you find out whether there are benefits you and your loved one with Alzheimer’s might qualify for.

Next time, you’re going to find out about Lie #2 – it just might be one you’ve been telling yourself all along!

This is an incredibly common question, and the short answer is: it depends. In order to get benefits from the VA that would pay for Alzheimer’s Care, you/your loved one must meet a few specific standards. Those standards are as follows:

1) You must have served during a period of wartime, as defined by the VA. For clients of the Elder and Disability Law Firm, this is typically WWII or Korea. WWII being defined as December 7th, 1941 through December 31st, 1946, and the Korean Conflict as January 27, 1950 through end of January 1955. In the instance that Vietnam is applicable, those dates are considered to be August of 1964 through May 1975, with some earlier dates possible if a person had actually served in-country.
2) You must have served at least 90 days
3) You must have been honorably discharged
4) For purposes of the improved pension program, you must have been disabled. However what applies to most of our clients is that the VA will say that if you are over age 65, you are considered presumptively disabled, so you can meet this requirement without actually showing any disability.

But what if I didn’t serve overseas? That doesn’t matter. As long as you meet all the above criteria, you qualify, regardless of whether or not you served overseas.

What can I have as far as income and assets are concerned?

A rule of thumb for VA purposes is approximately $80,000 in assets for a married couple or $40,000 for a single person. Some people will attempt to tell you that the asset marker is $80,000 either way, but it is not quite that simple. For our purposes, we will use these guidelines:

First of all, the VA says that certain things don’t count as part of your “countable assets.” These things include a house, a car, a prepaid funeral plan for both spouses, and $1500 cash value life insurance or term insurance. These things don’t count and are considered exempt, but everything else does.

If you can meet these asset limitations, the next question is “can I meet the income limitations?”

The VA looks at the gross household incomes—for married couples that would be both spouse’s incomes, social security, pensions, whatever incomes there may be, and from that they subtract unreimbursed medical expenses; things like the cost of insurance, doctors, medications, ongoing care costs, etc. By and large, if someone is in an assisted living facility, the cost of that will fall under the category of an unreimbursed medical expense.

For example, consider this:
We have a married couple. Each of them receives a monthly social security check; the husband’s amounts to $1800, and the wife’s to $1200, meaning that they have $3,000 income per month. They move into an assisted living facility which, in the Kansas City area, costs about$4,500 per month. So we take their gross household income: $3000/month and subtract the cost of assisted living—this couple’s actually got a negative income. You don’t have to have a negative income to qualify for the benefits, but in this case, with the negative number, it is pretty clear that this couple would qualify. But for how much are they eligible? For a married couple, they might be entitled to as much as nearly $2,000 a month. For the widow or spouse of a veteran, perhaps $1,000 a month. What would then happen once the benefits have been qualified for is that those funds would be paid directly to the veteran or the survivor of the veteran, and those funds would be tax free, to offset the cost of care.

So, if a person with Alzheimer’s has heavy medical costs, even with in-home care or care in an assisted living facility, the entire cost of that care can be considered an unreimbursed medical expense, and in those cases there may be some VA benefits available. There are also strategies that are sometimes available to reduce the amount of “countable assets” someone has if they have more than the (roughly) $80,000 that the VA says they’re allowed to have. If this is the case, it’s a good idea to check if those strategies are available and could be of use to you.

Today you’re going to learn about the benefit for the veteran who needs it – whether or not he or she was injured during wartime. You’re one step closer to possibly qualifying for those benefits, because today it’s all about how the VA actually judges whether your loved one is “needy.” Make sure you read all the way to the end, because we’re coming down the home stretch and the financial health of your family may just depend on you getting smart about these things.

Now before I go through the explanation… let me toss you a lifeline. About this point many people start to feel like this is too much… “I’ll never understand it all,” they think.

Well, if that’s you, don’t fret. Pick up the phone and call my office at (913) 338-5713 and my trained staff and I will guide you through the VA maze. There’s no charge for the call and we’ll quickly help you discover the benefits that may be waiting for you at the end of the VA maze.

Or if you’d prefer to learn more, you should understand that a VA examiner looks at non-service-connected pensions as a type of welfare. It is NOT welfare, but from the VA point of view, they are trying to provide a pension for a wartime veteran or survivor spouse who truly needs it. This pension is based on financial need and is not based solely on a percentage of disability. The maximum annual pension rate (we’ll just call it the MAPR) available per veteran is calculated by taking into consideration some of the following factors:

- Gross household income available to pay expenses;

- Gross savings and other money available from IRAs, CDs, cash value life insurance, stocks, bonds, annuities, rented real estate, vacation homes, and all other investments;

- Life expectancy of the veteran, to determine how long the veteran may live and have to pay medical expenses; and

- The cost of ongoing medical expenses that are not covered by Medicare, employee benefits, or insurance.

These are our UME’s.

Based on the information above, the first step in determining if a wartime veteran may qualify for a pension based on need is the formula below:

Gross household annual income

Minus: Unreimbursed medical expenses (UME) – for one year

Equals: Net income for Veterans Administration purposes

“Net Income for Veterans Administration Purposes” (abbreviated IVAP) is what is used to figure out how much, if any, pension money will be given to a veteran.

Each category of need – such as housebound veteran, nursing home resident veteran, or veteran’s spouse-has a maximum amount of pension dollars available per claimant. Because there is a maximum annual pension rate (MAPR) for each category, no one can receive a pension for more than the maximum-regardless of actual need.

Soon, we will review requirements to be eligible for the non-service-connected pension and the maximum available pension resource. Then we’re going to go through the hard and fast numbers that the VA uses to make sure your loved one’s net income isn’t too high to receive the benefit. You’ve got a lot of homework this time! Figure out what the veteran you love has for a net income using the formula below:

Gross household annual income

Less: Unreimbursed medical expenses – for one year

Equals: Net income for Veterans Administration purposes

In addition, you’ll find it helpful to calculate what your loved one is “worth” to a VA examiner, and that includes their gross savings and other money available from IRAs, CDs, cash value life insurance, stocks, bonds, annuities, rented real estate, vacation homes, and all other investments. I know this is a lot to find out at one time, but the sooner you collect all this information, the sooner you will be ready to fill out your forms.

Shortly, we’re also going to look at what NOT to do if your loved one has too many assets! Trust me, as you continue to read these posts, you’ll find that the rules on what NOT to do is the most important of all – it means the difference between aging with dignity and losing everything!

Of course, if don’t to walk this VA maze alone, or if you want to immediately come out the other end, call my office today at (913) 338-5713. We are honored to be your trusted guide. We have walked this path with many of our nation’s war heroes and will be happy to assist you if the process is starting to feel overwhelming to you. Otherwise, we’ll march on!

Today you’re going to learn what the VA considers “Unreimbursed Medical Expenses” for your loved one with Alzheimer’s, if they’re a veteran – that is, what you and your loved one are paying out of your pockets – also referred to as “UME.” This is a key factor to help you determine if a veteran may qualify for a pension! The formula the VA uses to calculate your real income is below:

Wartime Veteran & Spouse (if any) Gross household annual income

Equals: Net income for Veterans Benefits purposes

Don’t worry too much about that today; we’re going to go over it in detail later. It’s just to give you a frame of reference as to what the VA is looking at.

Now, what qualifies as Unreimbursed Medical Expenses? Well, first of all, your household annual income includes anything the veteran with Alzheimer’s earns, as well as his/her spouse or dependents. From that number, you would subtract UME’s – which include doctors’ and dentists’ fees, Medicare premiums and copayments, insurance premiums, transportation to the doctor’s office, and the cost of assisted living facilities or in-home caretakers. But there’s much more – take a look below to see everything that qualifies!

Listing of Possible Medical Expenses: (this is only a partial list)

-Medicare premiums deducted from Social Security
-Supplementary medical insurance (Part B) under Medicare
-Abdominal supports
-Acupuncture service
-Ambulance hire
-Anesthetist
-Arch supports
-Artificial limbs
-Back supports
-Braces
-Cardiographs
-Chiropodist
-Chiropractor
-Convalescent home (for medical treatment only)
-Crutches
-Dental services
-Dentures
-Dermatologist
-Eyeglasses
-Food or beverages prescribed by doctor for treatment of illness
-Gynecologist
-Hearing aids & batteries
-Home health services
-Hospital expenses
-Insulin treatment
-Insurance premiums (medical)
-Invalid chair
-Lab tests
-Lip reading lessons (in connection with disability)
-Neurologist
-Nursing services
-Occupational therapist
-Ophthalmologist
-Optician
-Optometrist
-Oral surgery
-Osteopath
-Pediatrician
-Physical examinations
-Physician
-Physical therapy
-Podiatrist
-Prescriptions and drugs
-Psychiatrist
-Psychoanalyst
-Psychologist
-Psychotherapy
-Radium therapy
-Sacroiliac belt
-Seeing-eye dog
-Speech therapist
-Splints
-Surgeon
-Telephone/teletype for deaf
-Transportation expenses (20 cents per mile)
-Vaccines
-Vitamins prescribed by doctor
-Wheelchairs
-Whirlpool baths for medical purposes
-X rays

Note: Most medical expenses must be prescribed by a physician to be deductible from gross income for VA benefit qualification purposes.

So you see, depending on what your income is and what your medical expenses are, you may qualify – even if your gross monthly income seems too high at first glance. If you have questions about anything in the list above or aren’t sure if an expense you incur is “unreimbursed” or not, go ahead and give us a call at (913) 338-5713. We help you find out sooner rather than later whether the veteran with Alzheimer’s that you love is eligible for this big benefit.

Is your loved one with Alzheimer’s the widow or widower of a veteran? Today we’re going to look at the help the widow or widower of a veteran can be given when they qualify. In other words, what can a surviving spouse of a wartime veteran receive for long term medical expenses?

There are two routes to go here. One is you can continue to read and study through these posts. Many people like to gather lots of information before they move ahead. If that’s you, stay tuned… I have lots more to share with you.

Others like to jump ahead. They say, “I don’t care how it all works… I just want to know if I’m likely to be eligible… and if so, how much of a monthly benefit might I qualify for?”

If you’re in the second group, if you’d like to get quick feedback on what benefits are available to you or your spouse for their service to our country, then call my office at (913) 284-7873 and my trained staff will take you through our “Is It Worth It?” conversation and help you discover whether you might already be eligible or whether there are steps you can take to quickly become eligible. Call us now to discover how you may be eligible for an extra $1000 to $2000 per month…

Or if you’d prefer to study further, then let’s continue.

Before you learn about benefits for a surviving spouse of a veteran, I have something to tell you that may come as a shock. From the Veterans Administration point of view, they can truthfully tell you that there’s no such thing as “VA Aid and Attendance Benefits.” The reason for this is that they don’t call it by that name. The public and the media refer to the benefits as either “Aid and Attendance,” “widow’s pension,” or “widow’s award.” Unfortunately, many people have been denied an opportunity to file a claim because they did not know that the VA refers to these benefits as either a “Special Monthly Pension” or “Death Pension” or even a “Non-Service Connected Pension.” When you talk to the VA, you’ve got to speak the right language!

As for the benefit for a surviving spouse, the award is called a “Death Pension.” It might seem a little harsh, but at the VA, they deal with death every day… In fact, 1,900 veterans die every day, and over 1,000 of them are World War II veterans. That means that every day is Memorial Day for the VA! Every Monday they start the day with a new backlog of death and funeral claims from Saturday and Sunday -3,800 deaths. No wonder they use this kind of language to describe the widow(er)’s award! The proper name for it is the “Death Pension for the Veteran’s Surviving Spouse.”

As the burden of communication is on the communicator, you need to use the proper terms when dealing with the VA – learn to speak their language. If you do not know how to speak their language, then you need a ‘translator.’ As you already know, the only translators that can help you are:

- Recognized Veterans Service Organizations, like the VFW or American Legion

- An accredited agent, such as an employee of the State

- A licensed attorney who is accredited by the VA

What you’ll read next is the benefit your loved one may receive when you get all their paperwork sorted out. Take a look:

2011 Death Pension Rates Paid To Veteran’s Surviving Spouse (use this information only when the wartime veteran has died)

Situation – Surviving spouse
Maximum Annual Pension Rate – $7,933
Maximum Monthly Check – $661

Situation – With one dependent child
Maximum Annual Pension Rate – $10,385
Maximum Monthly Check – $865

Situation – Surviving spouse is permanently housebound
Maximum Annual Pension Rate – $9,696
Maximum Monthly Check – $808

Situation – With one dependent child
Maximum Annual Pension Rate – $12,144
Maximum Monthly Check – $1,012

Situation – Surviving spouse is in need of “regular aid and attendance”
Maximum Annual Pension Rate – $12,681
Maximum Monthly Check – $1,056

Situation – With one dependent child
Maximum Annual Pension Rate – $15,128
Maximum Monthly Check – $1,260

Situation – For each additional dependent child
Maximum Annual Pension Rate – $2,020
Maximum Monthly Check – $168 additional

If you have questions about anything you’re learning, you can visit my Alzheimer’s Resource Center at www.AlzheimersResourceKit.com/hammond, or feel free to call my office… we’re happy to provide you with some answers.

Is your loved one with Alzheimer’s a veteran? Take a look at the table below to see what the veteran you love may receive to help out with long term health care costs:

Special Monthly Pension rates paid to veterans age 65 or older OR permanently and totally disabled -

(If the veteran is still alive, use this information):

Situation – Permanently and totally disabled veteran
Maximum Monthly Check – $985 ($11,830 per year)

Situation – With one dependent spouse or child
Maximum Monthly Check – $1,291 ($15,493 per year)

Situation – Permanently and totally disabled and also housebound
Maximum Monthly Check – $1,204 ($14,457 per year)

Situation – With one dependent spouse or child
Maximum Monthly Check – $1,510 ($18,120 per year)

Situation – Permanently and totally disabled and in need of regular aid and attendance
Maximum Monthly Check – $1,644 ($19,736 per year)

Situation – With one dependent spouse or child
Maximum Monthly Check – $1,949 ($23,396 per year)

*Increase for each additional dependent child*
Maximum Monthly Check – $168 additional ($2,020 per year)

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the VA Benefits you may be entitled to, don’t hesitate to give my office a call at (913) 338-5713.

Hope I’ll be hearing from you soon!