Most sales lines about Aid and Attendance bundle three promises: approval is close to certain, money arrives quickly once care starts, and the monthly check pays the aide directly. Each promise can be tested against VA's own rules before you compare one helper with another.[1]

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Test each promise before you compare the price

Take the pitch apart into separate claims and write each one down exactly as it was said. Then check it.

Approval is guaranteed. VA decides a pension claim on the evidence in the file, and a claim can be denied or reduced. A helper who cannot show you how the evidence is judged is describing a hope, not a rule.[1]

Money starts the day care starts. The effective date for pension generally follows when VA receives a claim, not when the aide's first shift happens. Ask which date the helper is quoting and where it comes from.[2]

The check pays the aide. VA pays the veteran. Some pitches imply a direct route from VA to the agency. Ask who receives each payment and whether any document you sign gives the agency a claim on the benefit.[1]

Free means no charge to you. Free can mean no fee for a service, a fee paid by someone else, or a fee billed later. Ask which one it is, and get the answer in writing. Accredited helpers are subject to VA's fee rules, which you can read on the accreditation pages.[3]

Check the helper's standing, not the brochure

VA accredits the people who help with claims. VA publishes an accreditation search where you can look up accredited representatives, attorneys, and claims agents by name.[3] Search for the name the helper gives you, not only the business name on the flyer.

A home care agency is a different thing. It sells hours of care, and it is not checked through VA accreditation. The state rules for that licensing are not on VA.gov, so ask the agency which state office issued its license and check that office's public record yourself.

Ask for the pitch in writing

Before you agree to anything, ask for these in writing:

  • The exact approval and timing language the helper uses, and the source for it.
  • Who is paid, when, and by whom, including any payment tied to the benefit.
  • Every document you would sign, with the line that gives the helper authority.
  • Whether the helper is accredited, with the name as it appears in the VA search.
  • What happens if VA denies the claim or pays less than the pitch implied.

A helper who answers those in writing has given you something to compare. One who answers by pointing back to the pitch has not. Free local help can check the pitch with you. The list is on Local Help: St. Louis Offices, and the reasoning behind each check is on Sources.

Footnotes

  1. VA, Aid and Attendance and Housebound benefits: va.gov/pension/aid-attendance-housebound
  2. VA, the same benefits page, for the effective date rules: va.gov/pension/aid-attendance-housebound
  3. VA Accreditation Search and accreditation rules: va.gov/ogc/apps/accreditation