Kelly Augspurger: [00:00:15] Hey everyone. Welcome to Steadfast Care
Planning where we plan for care to live
well. I'm your guide, Kelly Augspurger. With
Kelly Augspurger: [00:00:16] me today is Carmen Perry, VP of Strategic
Partnerships at Veterans Home Care. Carmen,
thanks so much for being here!
Carmen Perry: [00:00:18] My pleasure. Thank you so much for having
us.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:00:25] Today we are going to be talking about long
term care benefits that are available to
veterans and their spouses. So, Carmen, can
Kelly Augspurger: [00:00:26] we jump right in?
Carmen Perry: [00:00:26] Let's do it.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:00:27] All right. What long term care benefits are
available to vets and their spouses?
Carmen Perry: [00:01:00] So there's quite a few benefits through the
VA that are available, but there's a
specific benefit that our program, Veterans
Carmen Perry: [00:01:00] Home Care, helps with, and that's the
benefit called Aid and Attendance. And it's
a benefit that's specifically designed to
Carmen Perry: [00:01:01] help veterans and this is also one of the
few benefits that are available for their
surviving spouses. It helps them really
Carmen Perry: [00:01:01] cover that cost of care that we all know is
quickly increasing across the country.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:01:11] And so what kind of benefits are actually
available? Are these benefits available in
the home? Are they in facilities? Can the
Kelly Augspurger: [00:01:12] Vets and spouses choose where they receive
these benefits? Sure.
Carmen Perry: [00:01:35] So this benefit is going to be really
specifically for anything that's medically
necessary so you can receive these benefits
Carmen Perry: [00:01:35] in your home. Our program, the Vet Assist
program, helps people use this benefit for
home care. It can also be used if you're in
Carmen Perry: [00:01:35] an assisted living facility and you're
receiving care in that facility, it can be
used for that as well. So, yes, they do have
Carmen Perry: [00:01:35] the right to choose how their benefit is
administered, which is really good.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:01:53] Okay I would imagine like with most people,
at least the clients that I serve, Carmen,
they want to most likely, most often receive
Kelly Augspurger: [00:01:53] care at home. So do you see Veterans and
their spouses maybe starting with care at
home and then sometimes they move into some
Kelly Augspurger: [00:01:53] kind of a facility or VA community?
Carmen Perry: [00:02:34] Kelly, you make a very good point. I tell
everyone, I've been in the health care
industry for 20 I say 20 years, but, I hate
Carmen Perry: [00:02:34] to date myself. As long as I've been in the
health care industry, I have never once, not
one time ever received a phone call from
Carmen Perry: [00:02:34] somebody telling me they want to go into a
facility. So, yes, the majority of our aging
population, they want to stay at home where
Carmen Perry: [00:02:34] they're most comfortable as long as they
possibly can. We definitely help people do
that with our Vet Assist program. But yes,
Carmen Perry: [00:02:34] there becomes a point where there is no
choice and they do need additional care that
they can't receive in their home and this
Carmen Perry: [00:02:34] benefit can transfer right on over to any
sort of assisted living facility that they
graduate to and needing higher levels of
Carmen Perry: [00:02:34] care.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:02:46] Okay, great. I know there are different
requirements in order to actually qualify
for a VA Aid and Attendance. So can you tell
Kelly Augspurger: [00:02:46] us what are the income and asset
requirements for the Vets and the spouses to
be able to receive those benefits?
Carmen Perry: [00:03:36] So it's kind of a tricky thing to figure out
the income. And let me tell you why. When
you're qualifying for aid and attendance,
Carmen Perry: [00:03:36] you basically take somebody's income and you
find a medical expense to match it. So there
really is no magic number when it comes to
Carmen Perry: [00:03:37] the income because you're basically if you
have a medical expense to match your income,
you can qualify. When it comes to assets,
Carmen Perry: [00:03:37] there is a limit. It is right around
$150,000 in liquid assets, but that doesn't
include your home. So your primary place of
Carmen Perry: [00:03:37] living, they don't include that, a vehicle
is also excluded. What's going to be
included is really anything that has a cash
Carmen Perry: [00:03:37] value that your Social Security number is
attached to. So any kind of investment
accounts, secondary homes, multiple
Carmen Perry: [00:03:37] vehicles, those types of things that will
actually hold a value. They don't want to
see that exceed around $150,000.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:03:38] Okay. Is that per person? Is that for a
couple? How does that work if you're
married?
Carmen Perry: [00:03:55] So that is per couple or if it's a single
veteran or surviving spouse on their own,
that would be for them alone. But if it's a
Carmen Perry: [00:03:55] couple, that $150,000 is not going to be
individual, it's going to be collective.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:04:06] And then what about care needs and time of
service requirements? What does that look
like in order to qualify for benefits? Do
Kelly Augspurger: [00:04:07] you have to have a certain level of care in
order to receive benefits?
Carmen Perry: [00:04:32] So when you're receiving Aid & Attendance,
they're really looking to see that you need
the aid and attendance of another person. So
Carmen Perry: [00:04:32] they're going to be looking for about 2 to 3
activities of daily living that you'll be
needing assistance with. That can be standby
Carmen Perry: [00:04:32] assist to make sure that if you're in the
shower, you're not falling. That can be meal
preparation, lighthouse keeping, even
Carmen Perry: [00:04:32] transportation. So really they're looking to
see that you need assistance with 2 to 3
activities of daily living.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:05:07] Oh, interesting. Okay. So in my world, in
the long term care insurance world, we're
looking at activities of daily living as
Kelly Augspurger: [00:05:07] well. but we're looking at transferring,
toileting, bathing, dressing, eating and
continence. That meal prep, the
Kelly Augspurger: [00:05:07] transportation, that sort of thing is not
considered an ADL. Those are considered what
we call instrumental activities of daily
Kelly Augspurger: [00:05:07] living. So you can't trigger a claim if you
need help with meal prep, but if you do need
help with two out of those six ADLs and you
Kelly Augspurger: [00:05:07] also need meal prep, they can help with
that. So you're saying with Aid in
Attendance, that meal prep or transportation
Kelly Augspurger: [00:05:08] can count as an activity of daily living?
Carmen Perry: [00:05:34] It can and let me give you a scenario of
where that would really come into play. When
you have somebody who's a high fall risk,
Carmen Perry: [00:05:34] which means they can't stand at a stove and
prepare their own meals, that's when meal
prep will come into play. When you have
Carmen Perry: [00:05:34] somebody who has cognitive impairment, can't
even remember to make themselves a meal.
That's where meal prep comes into play. So,
Carmen Perry: [00:05:34] yes, it is kind of a symptom of sometimes a
bigger picture, but it does play a role in
activities of daily life. So yeah.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:05:43] Okay. And then what about service
requirements? What type of quantity or
quality? Like what does that look like for a
Kelly Augspurger: [00:05:43] Vet that had time in the military?
Carmen Perry: [00:06:25] Yeah. So when you're looking at the time
that they're going to get authorized for,
what that really comes down to is Aid &
Carmen Perry: [00:06:25] Attendance has a maximum benefit amount for
each status. So for surviving spouse, it's a
little over $1,400 and it goes all the way
Carmen Perry: [00:06:25] up to married Veteran who's getting around
$2,600 a month. That's going to break down
into the hourly rate that's in your area.
Carmen Perry: [00:06:25] And as we know, cost of care varies so
significantly from coast to coast and
anywhere in between. So in California, say
Carmen Perry: [00:06:25] where the average cost of care is between
$40 and $50 an hour, that little pot of
$2,600 is going to get you less care than,
Carmen Perry: [00:06:25] say, somewhere in Kentucky where the cost of
care is averaging around $27 per hour.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:06:26] For sure.
Carmen Perry: [00:06:26] So it really just depends on where you are in
the country. And then that pot of money is
just going to get you whatever you can
Carmen Perry: [00:06:32] wherever you live.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:06:32] Okay.
Commercial Voice: [00:06:33] Now for a brief message from our show
sponsor, The Steadfast Care Planning podcast
is sponsored by the LTC Certified and
Commercial Voice: [00:06:41] Long-Term Care Training Program, which gives
financial advisors tools to discuss extended
care planning with their clients. Look for
Commercial Voice: [00:06:48] the LTC designation when choosing an
advisor.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:06:51] What about as far as you know, they have to
have served during a wartime. Is that
correct? Can you talk about that?
Carmen Perry: [00:08:15] Yeah, so the benefit Aid & Attendance was
actually designed to help wartime veterans
and their surviving spouses. So if they
Carmen Perry: [00:08:15] served during World War II, if they served
during the Korean conflict, if they served
during Vietnam, and if they served we're
Carmen Perry: [00:08:15] also counting the Persian Gulf wars right
now as well. There's no end date that has
been determined by Congress. So any of those
Carmen Perry: [00:08:15] war periods will count. You have to have
active duty during those war periods. Now,
that does not mean you had to have served in
Carmen Perry: [00:08:15] combat. There's separate benefits for those
Veterans that served in combat. It doesn't
mean you have to have been injured while you
Carmen Perry: [00:08:15] were serving in the military because there
is a separate benefit for those Veterans
that were injured during their service to
Carmen Perry: [00:08:15] the military, and it's called service
connected disability. And again, a
completely separate benefit. This benefit is
Carmen Perry: [00:08:15] if you were active duty during those war
periods and just kind of give an example. I
had a Veteran a long time ago who was active
Carmen Perry: [00:08:15] duty during Vietnam. He never left the
United States. He was an English teacher on
base. So he never served in any active
Carmen Perry: [00:08:15] combat. And his daughter kept telling me, "I
don't think he's going to qualify. He wasn't
hurt." And I said, "No, no, no, no. He was
Carmen Perry: [00:08:15] active duty during a war period." So just to
kind of separate the two. There are
benefits, so many benefits available for our
Carmen Perry: [00:08:15] Veterans, but this one, you just have to
have had that active duty during the war
period.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:08:35] Got it. So you don't have to actually see
the war up front in your face in order to
actually receive these benefits as long as
Kelly Augspurger: [00:08:36] you were active duty. Okay, hood
clarification. Do you see Veterans have long
term care insurance benefits? And if so, how
Kelly Augspurger: [00:08:36] do you see that coordinating with the VA
benefits, assuming they're eligible for
benefits?
Carmen Perry: [00:09:27] Sure, so when we're looking at Aid and
Attendance specifically, they're going to
take any type of income you receive and
Carmen Perry: [00:09:27] they're going to calculate that towards your
benefit eligibility. With long term care
insurance, this is something that I have
Carmen Perry: [00:09:27] seen really kind of in a specific group of
Veterans that that all bought it around the
same time and then not for awhile. Long term
Carmen Perry: [00:09:27] care insurance, as it comes in, it's
utilized for care, so it's not technically
considered an income. It's kind of a wash
Carmen Perry: [00:09:27] because if whatever money they get is going
towards the care that they need and so it's
not really going to be counted against their
Carmen Perry: [00:09:27] income. But I do see Veterans with long term
care insurance. It was, I think for a long
time sold and then they kind of stopped for
Carmen Perry: [00:09:27] awhile and now it's becoming more popular
again, and I'm glad to see that because the
cost of care is only going up and the more
Carmen Perry: [00:09:27] resources you can kind of create for
yourselves to cover that cost, the better
off you're going to be.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:10:04] Yeah, totally agree. Especially when you're
talking about those coasts, right? I mean,
you mentioned California. Cost of care out
Kelly Augspurger: [00:10:04] there is going to be a lot more expensive
than it is in the Midwest. And so how are
people going to be able to pay for this
Kelly Augspurger: [00:10:04] care? And you also said earlier - did you
say the maximum benefits was like, was it
$2,600? $2,600 is the max monthly that one
Kelly Augspurger: [00:10:04] person, one Veteran or spouse is going to be
able to qualify for. So how much care does
that actually cover? Like there's probably
Kelly Augspurger: [00:10:04] going to be a gap, especially if you're
needing a significant amount of care like
there's probably going to be a gap there. So
Kelly Augspurger: [00:10:04] you got to come up with a way to be able to
really fill in that gap. How are you going
to do that?
Carmen Perry: [00:10:26] And just to clarify on the amount, the
surviving spouse that applies for this
benefit is only going to get around $1,400 a
Carmen Perry: [00:10:26] month. They won't get $2,600 because that's
all they offer to a surviving spouse. A
single Veteran is going to get around $2,200
Carmen Perry: [00:10:26] a month and then a married Veteran gets the
$2,600. So those pots get smaller and
smaller as you go down and it's definitely
Carmen Perry: [00:10:26] something to be aware of.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:10:57] Right, so if you're a Veteran or you're a
Veteran spouse, this is something that you
want to look into, but don't necessarily
Kelly Augspurger: [00:10:58] count on it for it to cover all of your long
term care expenses, it's like icing on the
cake. I've got, you know, whether it's
Kelly Augspurger: [00:10:58] $1,400, $2,200, $2,600 per month, that's
awesome. Thank you, government. I served my
Country, but I got to have another way to be
Kelly Augspurger: [00:10:58] able to fill in that gap, right?
Carmen Perry: [00:11:44] 100%
Kelly Augspurger: [00:11:44] Yeah. So, Carmen, how do Vets and their
spouses find out what they actually qualify
for? What's the process?
Carmen Perry: [00:11:44] So you can actually go over to our website.
So www.VeteransHome Care.com and there's an
eligibility checklist. So you can actually
Carmen Perry: [00:11:44] kind of ask yourself these questions. You
know, the Veterans served during a war
period. Do I need assistance with activities
Carmen Perry: [00:11:44] of daily living? Do my liquid assets exceed
$150,000? But there is a whole eligibility
checklist there to kind of guide you through
Carmen Perry: [00:11:44] it. We also have our own enrollment team
that is standing by to take calls. They can
answer any questions you guys may have and
Carmen Perry: [00:11:44] also you guys can get my contact
information, give me a call because I tell
everybody this, as soon as anyone hears
Carmen Perry: [00:11:44] about a benefit through the VA, their first
question is, do I qualify? And there's so
many more questions than places to find
Carmen Perry: [00:11:44] answers. So we really do try to make
ourselves available to help people kind of
navigate whether they qualify or not
Carmen Perry: [00:11:44] quickly.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:11:45] How long does that process typically take,
like from start to finish?
Carmen Perry: [00:12:19] So from start to finish, from the day that,
you know, someone usually contacts us til
the day a caregiver is walking through the
Carmen Perry: [00:12:19] front door, we have really streamlined that
process. So it takes about 30 to 45 days,
which is pretty quick. I've been doing this,
Carmen Perry: [00:12:19] here at the Vet Assist program for 11 years.
I've had to take two days. I've had to take
two years. So I like to tell people, you are
Carmen Perry: [00:12:19] in the driver's seat of how quickly this
will go. Our goal is to help you get care as
quickly as possible in the home. So we're
Carmen Perry: [00:12:19] going to assist you guys in every way we
possibly can to get that quickly done.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:12:28] Ok, so if the Veteran and their spouse, if
they're able to get all the information and
get their ducks in a row, that makes the
Kelly Augspurger: [00:12:28] process go much more smoothly and faster.
Carmen Perry: [00:12:28] Oh, absolutely.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:12:29] Yeah,
Carmen Perry: [00:12:43] Absolutely and we have a full on-support
team that will kind of handhold you through
this very complicated process. So you're
Carmen Perry: [00:12:43] never going to be left alone trying to wing
it and figure it out. We will assist you
guys. That's why we call it the Vet Assist
Carmen Perry: [00:12:43] program.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:12:50] There it is. Well, Carmen, how do you guys
get paid? Do you charge the Veteran and
their spouse or who is paying you for your
Kelly Augspurger: [00:12:51] services?
Carmen Perry: [00:13:32] Sure, so there's actually no out of pocket
cost for our services. We contract with care
providers nationwide to provide care to our
Carmen Perry: [00:13:32] clients, our Veterans and our surviving
spouses. Our amazing partners that we work
with give us those services at a discounted
Carmen Perry: [00:13:32] rate. When we help our clients get those
funds from Aid and Attendance through the VA
when they finally come in, they use those
Carmen Perry: [00:13:33] funds to pay our program back. So there
really is no out of pocket cost to work with
our program. And when we get reimbursed from
Carmen Perry: [00:13:33] our clients from that VA fund, we get
reimbursed at standard market rate. So
really it is the long term partnerships that
Carmen Perry: [00:13:33] we've had with our care providers that allow
us to provide these services at no out of
pocket cost to our clients.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:13:45] Fantastic. So the Veterans and their spouses
don't have to worry about coming up with a
chunk of change to be able to pay for your
Kelly Augspurger: [00:13:45] services too. They don't have to worry about
that. Yeah, that's that's taken care of.
Well, Carmen, any other advice on how people
Kelly Augspurger: [00:13:45] can plan for care to live well?
Carmen Perry: [00:14:26] I would say do your research. There are so
many organizations out there. I work with so
many that are doing everything right and
Carmen Perry: [00:14:26] trying to make sure that everybody is
protected and in their aging years, but you
have to be careful. And so my best advice is
Carmen Perry: [00:14:26] always do your research, always go to the
Better Business Bureau. I always say that
they will be honest and you can get an
Carmen Perry: [00:14:26] unbiased opinion on how someone's operating
their organization. Talk to people that you
do trust and you do know in the in the
Carmen Perry: [00:14:26] industry. People that have been in this
industry for a long time will tell you who
to work with and who not to. So do your
Carmen Perry: [00:14:26] research. Don't be afraid to ask questions.
There are so many people out here trying to
help you guys age in place and age as safely
Carmen Perry: [00:14:26] as possible.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:14:32] Fantastic. Carmen, where can people find out
more information about Veterans Home Care
and how you help people?
Carmen Perry: [00:14:40] Sure! Well, again, head over to our website.
It is super easy to access and use, and it's
very user friendly. It's mobile friendly
Carmen Perry: [00:14:41] www.VeteransHomeCare.com.
Kelly Augspurger: [00:14:48] Okay. Awesome. Well, Carmen, thanks so much
for your time today and your expertise.
Really appreciate it! Have a wonderful day.
Carmen Perry: [00:14:49] Thank you.