What VA Benefits Can an Aging Veteran Get?

The VA Veterans Pension

The Veterans Pension is a needs-based (means-tested) monthly benefit for eligible wartime veterans with limited income who are age 65 or older, or who have a permanent and total disability. 'Needs-based' means eligibility depends on your income and net worth — it's separate from disability compensation for service-connected conditions. Many aging veterans who would qualify never apply, simply because they don't realize the benefit exists.

Aid & Attendance: the benefit families most often miss

Aid & Attendance (A&A) is an enhanced pension — extra money paid on top of the basic Veterans Pension — for those who need another person's help with everyday activities. You may qualify if you need help with things like bathing, dressing, or eating; are bedridden; live in a nursing home due to disability; or have severely limited eyesight. Because it's designed for exactly the situation aging veterans and their families face, A&A is often the most valuable piece — and the most overlooked.

Survivors Pension for a spouse

A separate needs-based benefit, the Survivors Pension, helps eligible surviving spouses and unmarried dependent children of deceased wartime veterans. Note this is not the same as DIC (Dependency and Indemnity Compensation), which is a different benefit tied to a service-connected death. If you're a surviving spouse, it's worth checking both — the rules and amounts differ.

The money rules: net worth and the look-back

Eligibility uses a combined net-worth limit — income plus assets, but excluding your primary home, your car, and most household goods. For the current cycle that limit is $163,699, the same figure for the Veterans Pension and the Survivors Pension.

There's also a look-back: the VA reviews asset transfers made in the 3 years before you file, and transfers below fair market value can create a penalty period of up to five years. As with Medicaid, this means giving away assets to qualify can backfire — get guidance before moving anything.

VA health care and long-term care

Beyond the pension, aging veterans may qualify for VA health care, which can include long-term care services — nursing-home, home-based, and community care — depending on eligibility. If a veteran in your family is facing rising care costs, it's worth asking the VA what health and long-term-care support they qualify for, alongside the pension benefits above.

How this fits the bigger picture

VA benefits are one piece of paying for later-life care, alongside Medicaid and private funds. Coordinating them takes some care — for some families, an accredited VA claims agent or an elder-law attorney helps. Our book Caregiving Without Losing Yourself covers the VA, Medicare, and Medicaid together, in plain English, so nothing a veteran is owed slips through the cracks.