Pursuing VA and other benefits for 100-year-old granny about to run out of money. Anything else I should be doing?
My 100.5-year-old granny is about $100,000 away from $0 assets and her care and apartment in independent living facility will run about $17,000 per month - so we’re less than a 1 year from having to cover her expenses which are not trivial and there is talk about moving her to assisted living. She needs help transferring since she had a hip replacement last December, so has to have 24 hr support. We are in California, the Bay Area, where everything is incredibly overpriced.
I just learned that her late, second husband served in Korea. He died in 1985 at age 63 after paralysis from a stroke, but appears never to have filed for VA benefits for himself. I just filed a notice of intent to claim benefits for granny with the VA (pension and the SURVIVORS PENSION AND/OR DEPENDENCY AND INDEMNITY COMPENSATION).
When I called the VA to start the process, I was told that they didn’t have the husband’s service number nor details regarding his service so, I filed a request at the national archives to find his records. Meanwhile a retired military friend found the years of service in the Air Force.
My questions are:
1. How long does the process take?
a. To get military service records
b. To get benefits
2. Does granny get a pension?
3. What is covered by other benefits and are there limits? I understand in-home care is covered, correct?
4. Would a survivors pension be retroactive to the date of her retirement eligibility or to death of spouse or only or date of my application last month?
5. How do I expedite? She’s 100 years old and will need major support in less than 1 year (sooner to prevent bad decisions by panicked family worried about the expenses they need to take on as we get to $0 savings in Granny’s account)
6. How are VA home care benefits coordinated with MediCal in home care (max 70.75 hrs a week paid by California).
Granny is currently in an independent living facility with “live-in” care takers who sleep in her apartment. I set up MediCal early this year and applied last month for in home supportive services via MediCal as soon she spent down to $130,000 which the social worker told me was the threshold for receiving help to pay for the care takers. We also got an order from her doctor to receive free incontinence supplies paid by Medicare.
What else should I be doing?
Agata
I sure wish you the best. Your Grandmom did so well to reach 100 with 100,000 still left to her; I congratulate her!
The cost is so high because of 24/7 in home care. It seems on the low end of that spectrum from what I gathered so far.
If her husband who served in the military died from a stroke, it was NOT "service-related" so she will NOT get any pension benefits. There will be no survivor's benefits for a non-existent pension the husband never had.
You need the husband's form DD214 from the National Archives, which takes 2 months, to even get your foot in the door with the VA. You also need the marriage certificate, including proof she never remarried. If she has never gotten VA Medical benefits by now, don't expect her to get them so easy at all. They are extremely hard to obtain as a wife of a deceased veteran (who never had VA Medical benefits) who has been living in private care for decades.
Even IF you get anything from the VA, it will NOT be retroactive.
If you want to try to get her into a VA facility, it will take 2-3 yrs minimum in California, depending on the CalVet VA facility location, and if they provide Memory Care, since not all of them do. The wait list for MC facilities is 5-8 yrs.
She cannot get into any of the Fed VA homes in the Bay Area without a VA pension. I wasted months listening to Fed VA Social Workers at the hospitals, who are no help and full of excuses. I have met with SWs, VSOs, CalVet Homes and the waiting lists are for YEARS. The applications are up to 120 pages, and require all medical records, doctor statements, financial info, marraige records, etc.
I hate to tell you this, but the late (and desperate) task you are trying to get quickly will get you nowhere, stress you out and waste your time.
Your best bet is to continue with what State Medi-Cal is providing.
I also live in the Bay Area.
Best of luck to you!
How long...not having his discharge papers means you now need to rely on someone else to research to obtain them for you. Also, since she was married before you will need to get that marriage certificate and that you get thru your state capital's vital statistics. Unless she still has it. If she was divorced from second one, she cannot receive A&A. Actually, not entitled to most VA benefits being divorced.
I think if no problem, it takes at least 6 months. And don't pay someone to do it. Your local VA dept should be able to help u file and tell u what else she maybe able to get. But then, you need his discharge paperwork to do anything.
I just reread ur post, as I said earlier, you cannot have Medicaid and A&A both. I guess that goes for in home care too. Seems ur family is looking to keep grand where she is. This may not be possible unless family is willing to foot the bill. Your local VA dept should be able to answer your questions.
Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) allows a retiree to ensure, after death, a continuous lifetime annuity for their dependents.
There are some relevant questions here. Did her husband serve long enough to get military retired pay? Did he retire out of the service and pay premiums out of his retirement pay for a lifetime annuity for his survivors? Was he married to grandmother then, and did he name her (with proper paperwork filed) as his dependent who is entitled to receive this SBP annuity upon his death? Or did he only name his children, if any, as SBP beneficiaries, and not his wife? Or did he leave a former wife on the paperwork and she's receiving it? These are questions you should ask and that the military benefit program people will want to know. Yes, it may take a long time for them to find these things out. They aren't the best staffed at this time.
If she is entitled to SBP payments, it will be a max 55% of his retirement pay.
It seems that if her husband died in 1985 and was getting retirement pay from the service, the DOD would have been notified of his death. Her income would have significantly decreased with his death and any SBP for her would have surfaced then. Proof of those sorts of things are usually kept with private papers like other insurance policies and social security papers.
I wouldn't get my hopes up, but good luck.
Go to http://militarypay.defense.gov/benefits/survivor-benefit-program/.overview
My mother is 98 and is in AL, she pays $4,900 a month, my step-mother is in MC and pays $5,500 a month, they are both in the same home (another story for another day, ex wife and widow), it is a very nice home in a nice area in Florida. Both are in studios, we downsized from a 1 bedroom as they both sleep in their lazy boys, saved them a ton.
The VA thing is very tricky, I would go right to the source with your questions.
I would consider shopping around and moving her to a less expensive place in the meantime.
Good Luck!
my moms benefits were retroactive to the date of application.
it does take time.. and lots of patience.