Steadfast Care Planning

VA Long-Term Care Benefits with Carmen Perry Tevaga

Kelly Augspurger Season 1 Episode 25

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If you are or know someone who is a Veteran or a Vet’s spouse, what LTC benefits are available to you?

Join me and my guest, Carmen Perry, VP Strategic Partnerships at Veterans Home Care, as we discuss LTC benefits for Veterans and their spouses. 

 

In this episode:

 

🔹 What LTC benefits are available to Vets and their spouses?

🔹 Are VA LTC benefits received in home or in facilities? Can Vets choose?

🔹 What are the income and asset requirements for Vets and spouses to receive benefits?

🔹 What are the care needs and time of service requirements for Vets and spouses to receive benefits?

🔹 If a Vet has LTC insurance, how does that coordinate with VA benefits?

🔹 How do Vets and spouses find out what they qualify for?

Watch this episode on YouTube: 

For additional information about Kelly, check her out on Linkedin or www.SteadfastAgents.com.

To explore your options for long-term care insurance, click here.

Steadfast Care Planning podcast is made possible by Steadfast Insurance LLC,
Certification in Long Term Care, and AMADA Senior Care Columbus.

Come back next time for more helpful guidance!

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. 

 

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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.

 

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