Post by Admin on Aug 5, 2014 1:41:00 GMT -5
What is Veterans Pension?
VA helps Veterans and their families cope with financial challenges by providing supplemental income through the Veterans Pension benefit. Veterans Pension is a tax-free monetary benefit payable to low-income wartime Veterans.
YOU DID NOT HAVE TO BE IN A WARZONE/THEATRE OF OPERATIONS TO QUALIFY; ONLY BE IN THE MILITARY FOR ONE DAY DURING A PERIOD OF WAR.
Am I eligible for VA Pension?
Generally, a Veteran must have at least 90 days of active duty service, with at least one day during a wartime period to qualify for a VA Pension. If you entered active duty after September 7, 1980, generally you must have served at least 24 months or the full period for which you were called or ordered to active duty (with some exceptions), with at least one day during a wartime period.
In addition to meeting minimum service requirements, the Veteran must be:
•Age 65 or older, OR
•Totally and permanently disabled, OR <---- READ BELOW FOR MORE INFO
•A patient in a nursing home receiving skilled nursing care, OR
•Receiving Social Security Disability Insurance, OR
•Receiving Supplemental Security Income
Your yearly family income must be less than the amount set by Congress to qualify for the Veterans Pension benefit. Learn more about income and net worth limitation, and see an example of how VA calculates the VA Pension benefit. SEE TABLE BELOW.
Additional Pension Allowances
Veterans or surviving spouses who are eligible for VA pension and are housebound or require the aid and attendance of another person may be eligible for an additional monetary payment. SEE TABLE BELOW.
Right now, at the time I am writing this information, VA Pension pays $1054 per month (single no dependents). It changes whenever Congress alters the minimum threshold of what is considered "poverty level".
WE RECOMMED CONTACTING A VETERAN SERVICE OFFICER TO FILE THIS PAPERWORK! Therefore, we will not even provide a link to the VA's application page. Doing so would be setting you up for failure.
"Totally and permanently disabled" explained
One of the VA's dirty little secrets resides in the words "Totally and permanently disabled". What they won't tell you is that you can get past this by having a 10% or higher service connected disability rating and/or any form of Social Security (if below retirement age and have a medical condition).
It is recommended that you apply for Social Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability (SSD) and VA Pension all at the exact same time. The VA supersedes the SSA and will do all of your medical evaluations. This gives you a substantial advantage over civilian doctors that are contracted with the Social Security Administration.
How it works if you get approved for all three...
SSI approved at $300 per month (example) but is superseded by SSD.
SSD is then awarded instead and you are granted $900 per month.
VA Pension is granted and supersedes both of the SS claims. But instead of retracting the already approved SSD claim, the VA offsets the balance by paying you and additional $254 per month. The total will always equal the amount of the highest award, in this case the VA Pension which is $1054 per month (single no dependents).
What about VA Pension and my Service Connected Disability?
You get whatever totals the highest monthly income. So if you are rated at 30% and you're single, you get $400.93 per month. But if you get approved for VA Pension it pays about $1200 per month and takes precedence over the 30% service connected. The only time Service Connected Disability is better than Pension is when the monthly amount totals more than the Pension. So 60%-100% SC is obviously better. But there is an exception to that. When you receive Pension you also receive every VA medical benefit for free (except dental). There are no co-pays, you get paid for every trip to the VA, you get COLA increases each year and you are given hotel accommodations (and food vouchers) if your commute is over 40 miles.
Eligible Wartime Periods
Under current law, VA recognizes the following wartime periods to determine eligibility for VA Pension benefits:
•World War I (April 6, 1917 – November 11, 1918)
•World War II (December 7, 1941 – December 31, 1946)
•Korean conflict (June 27, 1950 – January 31, 1955)
•Vietnam era (February 28, 1961 – May 7, 1975 for Veterans who served in the Republic of Vietnam during that period; otherwise August 5, 1964 – May 7, 1975)
•Gulf War (August 2, 1990 – through a future date to be set by law or Presidential Proclamation)
TABLE (click to enlarge)
Date of Cost-of-Living Increase: 12-01-2013
Increase Factor: 1.5%
Standard Medicare Deduction: $104.90
Pro-tip: Drop Medicare Part B if you get approved for VA Pension. It's an extra $104 per month in your pocket. Also, it saves you the $147 deductible. The VA's medical care is now free and you have no deductible whatsoever. Keep your Medicare Part A if it's free because you never know when you'll need that ER visit.
VA helps Veterans and their families cope with financial challenges by providing supplemental income through the Veterans Pension benefit. Veterans Pension is a tax-free monetary benefit payable to low-income wartime Veterans.
YOU DID NOT HAVE TO BE IN A WARZONE/THEATRE OF OPERATIONS TO QUALIFY; ONLY BE IN THE MILITARY FOR ONE DAY DURING A PERIOD OF WAR.
Am I eligible for VA Pension?
Generally, a Veteran must have at least 90 days of active duty service, with at least one day during a wartime period to qualify for a VA Pension. If you entered active duty after September 7, 1980, generally you must have served at least 24 months or the full period for which you were called or ordered to active duty (with some exceptions), with at least one day during a wartime period.
In addition to meeting minimum service requirements, the Veteran must be:
•Age 65 or older, OR
•Totally and permanently disabled, OR <---- READ BELOW FOR MORE INFO
•A patient in a nursing home receiving skilled nursing care, OR
•Receiving Social Security Disability Insurance, OR
•Receiving Supplemental Security Income
Your yearly family income must be less than the amount set by Congress to qualify for the Veterans Pension benefit. Learn more about income and net worth limitation, and see an example of how VA calculates the VA Pension benefit. SEE TABLE BELOW.
Additional Pension Allowances
Veterans or surviving spouses who are eligible for VA pension and are housebound or require the aid and attendance of another person may be eligible for an additional monetary payment. SEE TABLE BELOW.
Right now, at the time I am writing this information, VA Pension pays $1054 per month (single no dependents). It changes whenever Congress alters the minimum threshold of what is considered "poverty level".
WE RECOMMED CONTACTING A VETERAN SERVICE OFFICER TO FILE THIS PAPERWORK! Therefore, we will not even provide a link to the VA's application page. Doing so would be setting you up for failure.
"Totally and permanently disabled" explained
One of the VA's dirty little secrets resides in the words "Totally and permanently disabled". What they won't tell you is that you can get past this by having a 10% or higher service connected disability rating and/or any form of Social Security (if below retirement age and have a medical condition).
It is recommended that you apply for Social Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability (SSD) and VA Pension all at the exact same time. The VA supersedes the SSA and will do all of your medical evaluations. This gives you a substantial advantage over civilian doctors that are contracted with the Social Security Administration.
How it works if you get approved for all three...
SSI approved at $300 per month (example) but is superseded by SSD.
SSD is then awarded instead and you are granted $900 per month.
VA Pension is granted and supersedes both of the SS claims. But instead of retracting the already approved SSD claim, the VA offsets the balance by paying you and additional $254 per month. The total will always equal the amount of the highest award, in this case the VA Pension which is $1054 per month (single no dependents).
What about VA Pension and my Service Connected Disability?
You get whatever totals the highest monthly income. So if you are rated at 30% and you're single, you get $400.93 per month. But if you get approved for VA Pension it pays about $1200 per month and takes precedence over the 30% service connected. The only time Service Connected Disability is better than Pension is when the monthly amount totals more than the Pension. So 60%-100% SC is obviously better. But there is an exception to that. When you receive Pension you also receive every VA medical benefit for free (except dental). There are no co-pays, you get paid for every trip to the VA, you get COLA increases each year and you are given hotel accommodations (and food vouchers) if your commute is over 40 miles.
Eligible Wartime Periods
Under current law, VA recognizes the following wartime periods to determine eligibility for VA Pension benefits:
•World War I (April 6, 1917 – November 11, 1918)
•World War II (December 7, 1941 – December 31, 1946)
•Korean conflict (June 27, 1950 – January 31, 1955)
•Vietnam era (February 28, 1961 – May 7, 1975 for Veterans who served in the Republic of Vietnam during that period; otherwise August 5, 1964 – May 7, 1975)
•Gulf War (August 2, 1990 – through a future date to be set by law or Presidential Proclamation)
TABLE (click to enlarge)
Date of Cost-of-Living Increase: 12-01-2013
Increase Factor: 1.5%
Standard Medicare Deduction: $104.90
Pro-tip: Drop Medicare Part B if you get approved for VA Pension. It's an extra $104 per month in your pocket. Also, it saves you the $147 deductible. The VA's medical care is now free and you have no deductible whatsoever. Keep your Medicare Part A if it's free because you never know when you'll need that ER visit.
