"Everything that we do and every decision we make has to be focused on the veterans we serve," VA Secretary Robert McDonald said.
"Changing the way we determine eligibility to make the process easier for veterans is part of our promise to our veterans."
Military Times, March 18, 2015
Secretary McDonald is speaking specifically of changes being made to the rules and regs of the VA that will allow any veteran to be eligible for VA health care despite their net worth. As of yesterday, the VA will only consider household income and expenses from the prior year.
But at the same time the VA is removing net worth as a factor in determining eligibility for health care, they are attempting to change rules that will make it more difficult for veterans and their eligible widows to qualify for pensions:
In a surprise move, the Veteran’s Administration is proposing new rules on just who can get monthly pension or widow’s benefits. It’s an attempt to prevent people from gaming the system by giving away assets and then applying for aid. But veterans and their families are crying foul. They say it will cause real harm by making an already cumbersome process more so and will mean more delays in granting benefits. That would put needy veterans at risk of losing one of the most critical benefits out there—one that can help veteran’s stay at home and not go to a nursing home.
Forbes, March 10, 2015
There are those arguing that the system needs better protection, that there are veterans milking the system. We've heard that there are financial advisors out there that help rich veterans sock away their savings in protected accounts so that they can qualify for an average of $9000 a year. These rich veterans are like the welfare queens of Ronald Reagan. They are like the the drug using welfare recipients of Tennessee. They are practically non-existent.
In a long conversation with Jeremy Hilton, Military Spouse of the Year in 2012 and father of a special needs child, I gained a much better appreciation of how protected accounts, such as annuities and trusts, can work to help a family plan for medical care. In his experience, families of adult special needs children often place money in a trust so that the child can benefit from Medicaid funds while their family can provide "extras" that Medicaid doesn't cover. These extras often include items like a flight to visit family or a day-outing away from a full care facility and can vastly improve quality of life.
In the case of the Veteran's Administration, a veteran might place his savings in a trust so that he qualifies for help for several reasons. Some of those could be very simple - the savings could cover prescription drugs not offered by the VA, remodeling a home to accommodate a wheelchair, alternative therapies like acupuncture, transportation costs for those no longer able to drive. Savings in a trust or annuity would allow each family to adjust to their loved ones needs more easily than the VA could do on its own.
And reasons for creating a trust aren't always for simple things. Sometimes, a veteran places life savings in a trust so that their partner will be taken care of after they die. The new rules proposed by the VA don't take that into account at all.
And, as Hilton says, "Truly rich veterans don't look to shelter their money so they can qualify for this pittance. But for those vets who have almost nothing, this pension is a lifeline."
The problem isn't rich people trying to take advantage of the VA. And the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) agrees. If the new rules were to go into practice, the CBO estimates that only 1% of applicants would be disqualified. This would save the Veteran's Administration $39 million over 9 years. However, in order to wade through the financial records of all the applicants and keep the application process under 1 year, the VA would need to hire more employees. The CBO estimates that the new employees would cost $28 million for only 4 years. That would be $72 million over 9 years, much more than the savings of the program in the first place. Not an intelligent use of taxpayer dollars.
If those employees are not hired and the new rules are put in place, then the application process could easily double. According to disinterested spectator, a fellow DailyKos writer, the application process is already taking too long. In the case of his widowed mother, the VA took 10 months to approve her application and then another month to process paperwork to make him the representative payee. Although the VA began to pay her a monthly stipend, she was still owed $17,000 in back payment but was never able to receive it because she died before the paperwork could be completed.
And cases like this are common. Back in September, 2012, the New York Times ran a piece called "A Little-Known Benefit for Aging Veterans". The comments are filled with stories that just make you want to cry. Veteran after veteran, widow after widow, applied for benefits and died before the application process was complete.
So that brings us back to Secretary McDonald and his promise to make the process easier. He is either speaking double tongued and hoping that we won't catch the hypocrisy. Or he's tongue tied, unable to tell us what's really going on in those back offices of the VA. Either way, with these proposed changes, he is not making the process any easier for the most elderly of our veterans.
If you would like to see if you or a family member qualifies for the benefit, you can listen to yesterday's webinar explaining the benefit and the proposed changes, here. Just click on the big read button that reads, "click here for the webinar slide presentation" and then be prepared to give the webinar company your email address.
If you would like to leave a comment with the Veteran's Administration about these proposed changes, please visit this page and tell them your story. Please do so before the deadline of March 24, 2015.
If you would like to contact your Representative and ask why the VA is proposing changes that Congress has failed to pass multiple times, please do so here.
And thanks for reading! I know that this material can make the eyes of the most dedicated advocate glaze over. But your time and attention are essential and I really do appreciate it.