Guest opinion: Home care coverage for Veterans to remain at home
Some gave all — our nation’s veterans and their families certainly epitomize the word “service”. Many however do not know about the resources and programs that exist for in-home care. The VA describes the care provided to assist Veterans with daily activities from services ranging from meal-preparation and light housekeeping to grocery shopping, church, and errand trips to doctors’ visits and assistance with grooming and bathing. These services are provided through a detailed care plan. This plan is supervised by a registered nurse and organized through communication with family members and other healthcare providers. These same services can also be offered in a respite environment if the primary caregiver needs to travel, work, run errands themselves or even just take a break.
We all know someone who needs help — and we shouldn’t be afraid to suggest it or admit it ourselves. For veterans especially, their service made a difference and they deserve the best care. Most seniors want to stay in their own homes and in-home care is one of the best tools to use to be able to do so.
The Aid and Attendance benefit, a financial support program through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, is one of the most common ways war-time veterans can receive resources for private in-home care. VA Aid and Attendance or Housebound benefits provide monthly payments added to the amount of a monthly VA pension for qualified Veterans and spouses. If you, a neighbor or someone you know needs help with daily activities, Aid and attendance is a great place to start.
The VA Eligibility includes:
At least one of these must be true:
You need another person to help you perform daily activities, like bathing, feeding, and dressing, or
You have to stay in bed—or spend a large portion of the day in bed—because of illness, or
You are a patient in a nursing home due to the loss of mental or physical abilities related to a disability, or
Your eyesight is limited (even with glasses or contact lenses you have only 5/200 or less in both eyes; or concentric contraction of the visual field to 5 degrees or less)
The veteran must fill out VA Form 21-2680 (Examination for Housebound Status or Permanent Need for Regular Aid and Attendance. Through quality, compassionate, joyful care Comfort Keepers works with clients assist with required paperwork and pension claims. Once someone is approved to become a participant in a VA program, Comfort Keepers provides the quality care and companionship our veterans deserve.
Comfort Keepers of SWFL provides uplifting in-home care for veterans throughout our communities in Collier, Lee and Charlotte Counties. By elevating the human spirit, we provide the highest quality care to the heroes that have shaped our great nation and the history of our republic. Veterans or the surviving spouse of a veteran can remain home and take advantage of resources for in home care as well as benefits to increase safety around the home, while travelling and developing a comprehensive care plan for current and future needs.
Planning for care is one of the single most important things a person can do. For veterans and families whether a need is today, tomorrow or months down the road one can never be to early in planning the security of their future and their ability to be independent and safe at home.
Jacob Winge is the Director of Business Development Comfort Keepers of SWFL.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Comfort Keepers: Home care coverage for veterans to remain at home
