Senior Helpers Seminar: Paying for Home Care with VA Benefits

As our senior population increases, more families face increasing costs associated with providing personal care for themselves or their loved ones.

There is a little known benefit for Veterans called the "Aid and Attendance" benefit that pays for up to approximately $2,000 per month to help offset these costs.

Almost any veteran that served in a defined period of war and is over 65 can apply for this benefit - as well as their surviving spouses!

Frank Hayes, a veteran and owner of Senior Helpers of Central Texas will be conducting this 1 hour seminar at Mariposa at River Bend in Georgetown, Texas to go over all the details.

Lunch will be provided. There is limited seating available please call our office to reserve your place early.
Sign-up on the Senior Helpers of Central Texas Facebook Page

10 Great Free Activities for Older Adults

From About.com, read the whole article:

Video: Why you shouldn't leave that Christmas tree up too long. Hat tip Instapundit.

http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/

Activity for the Holidays: Create a Family Tree

Great how-to article from the Gilbert Guide!

Creating a Family Tree

Easy Ways to Improve Your Vision

 

A Marvelous Sense

They are two of your most precious possessions, but chances are, you take your eyes for granted. Most of us do. But think for a second what life would be like without being able to gaze on your grandchild or your flower garden or even navigate the kitchen without incident.

Prevent Blindness America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to vision issues, estimates that 50,000 people lose their sight needlessly every year and that 80 million Americans are at risk of eye diseases that can lead to low vision and even blindness.

The good news: The most common diseases -- age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), cataracts, glaucoma, and dry eye disease -- are all preventable to some extent. Read on to see (pun intended) how you can get Stealth Healthy protection for your peepers. Before we go any further, we have to tell you that the first step, if you smoke, is to stop. Smoking increases your risk of cataracts, glaucoma, dry eyes, and age-related macular degeneration.
Read the entire article from Reader's Digest.

Easy Guide to Long Term Care Insurance

Seeing is believing. And as a caregiver, you've seen long-term care up close. The time. The effort. The expense. You know the emotional, physical and financial impact it can have on families. But, in concentrating on the immediate needs of a loved one, believing you too could one day be in the same situation may not yet even be a consideration-especially when you are fairly young.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 70% of people over the age of 65 will need some services and supports "to meet health or personal care needs over an extended period of time."* So, for the majority of people, it's not as much a question of "if" they'll need long-term care than "when" they'll need it.  However, the sad truth is the need for long-term care can happen at any age. So, what will you do in the future if a chronic illness or disability causes you to need assistance with the activities of daily living such as bathing, eating or even using the bathroom?

• Are you prepared?
• Are you concerned?
• Have you thought about your future?

Read the whole article at Caring Today.

Senior Helpers In Home Health Care Austin, TX : Agency vs Registry Explained

When considering hiring a caregiver to help with services in your home, make sure you know the facts.  Being well-informed can save you money and protect you from potential legal problems. Below are six components of senior care to consider when evaluating available care plans for your loved one.

Concern #1: Service
 
Registry or By Yourself: You are responsible for knowing what services are needed for your loved one.
Senior Helpers: We are responsible for making sure you get the right services from the right caregiver. We match caregivers to clients based on their personalities.

Concern #2: Taxes&Injuries
 
Registry or By Yourself: You are responsible for reporting and paying taxes, social security, and worker’s compensation (in case of a work related injury in the home) for the caregiver. Failure to do so can result in penalties with extensive fines.

Senior Helpers: The caregivers are our employees—they are not 1099. You pay Senior Helpers directly, and we manage all taxes and expenses related to employment that are required by the state and federal governments.

Concern #3: Supervision

Registry or By Yourself: You are in charge and responsible for managing the caregiver’s performance.
Senior Helpers: We manage all of our employees and will perform unscheduled supervisory visits.

Concern #4: Background Check

Registry or By Yourself: You are responsible for performing a background check.  Neglecting to order and review a background check could place your loved one in danger.

Senior Helpers: All of our employees are screened through criminal background checks and license checks, and are required to provide the proper identification.

Concern #5: Hiring & Scheduling

Registry or By Yourself: You are responsible for the interviewing and hiring process. You will also be responsible for scheduling. If a caregiver calls out or doesn’t show up, you will need to find their replacement.

Senior Helpers: We have extensive experience on hiring compassionate and dependable caregivers. We are also responsible for scheduling and ensuring reliable and consistent care.

Concern #6: Theft

Registry or By Yourself: You will be responsible if the employee steals from you or your loved one.
Senior Helpers: Senior Helpers is licensed, insured, and bonded. All of our employees are bonded.

About Senior Helpers:
Senior Helpers Provides Many services in the Austin, Texas area. We provide a full array of Home Care services for seniors and the elderly living in this beautiful area. Our Home Care Services are provided by bonded and insured employees and all employees pass a National Background check.
If you need Home Care services in Austin, Bartlett, Bertram, Briggs, Burnet, Cedar Park, Florence, Georgetown, Granger, Holland, Hutto, Jarrell, Johnson City, Killeen, Leander, Liberty Hill, Manor, Marble Falls, Pflugerville, Round Mountain, Round Rock, Salado, Spicewood, Taylor and the surrounding areas we are an excellent choice with impeccable references. Home Health Care for your elderly loved ones is never an easy choice but we can promise we will do our best to make it as painless as possible. For more information, please visit: http://www.homehealthcareaustin.com/.

Caregiving a Grumpy Loved One: 4 Tips to Bring a Smile

Remember that lovable but grumpy donkey, Eeyore, in Winnie the Pooh? He always saw the rain clouds, always had something negative to say. While it’s kind of cute in cartoon form, living with a grump can be exhausting–and caregiving is hard enough–it would really help if our loved ones at least tried to be pleasant.

What do you do if your dad or mom–or spouse is a grump?

Read the whole article at AlzheimersCaregiving.com 

Whether at a Doctor Visit or a Family Gathering, Include Elders in Conversation

I know it can be hard. Your siblings are in town. You visit the nursing home with them so you can all be together with your mom who is living in a care center. The adult children are all jabbering, trying to catch up on each other's lives. Sure, you are physically in the room with your parent. But there's a good chance that your mom is completely left out of the conversation.

Her hearing isn't bad, but the noise of several voices at once is too much. Her worsening dementia makes a lot of commotion confusing. She doesn't complain, and she really does enjoy seeing everyone. Yet, after you all leave feeling satisfied that you visited with mom, she doesn't feel "visited."

Read the rest of the article for insightful inclusion tips.

We Love Client Testimonials! Thank you Bob!

Music can do 'incredible things' for people with dementia

New research shows that singing may slow the progress of dementia.

Singing For The Brain is a group of singers in Bristol made up of people with Alzheimer's and their spouses. Most of the patients have lost their memory for names, events and people, but many respond to music long after other memories have disappeared.

10 Top Items for Senior Travel

These take-along essentials, including daily living aids, make senior travel enjoyable for everyone.

Whether you’re planning a two-week cruise or visiting out-of-town relatives for a few days over the holidays, senior travel can be great for the whole family. Traveling with an elderly loved one can be more than just manageable—you can all enjoy the time away from your usual routine. The secret to successfully traveling with a senior is taking along the equipment and daily living aids, usually in portable formats, that you depend on at home. Some versions are designed to fit flat in a suitcase to make bringing them even easier. Of course, these aids for seniors can also be ordered and shipped to your destination ahead of time.

Read the whole list!

How to pay for Home Care in Central Texas (TX) – From Senior Helpers – Veterans Aid and Attendance (A&A) Program

Senior Helpers wants to make sure Veterans are aware of a little-known benefit that may help Veterans and their surviving spouses pay for home care (and other care services).  If you or a loved one have any questions after reading this, please post your question in the comments area and we will make sure you receive the the answers you need.  Some of this sounds complicated–and it can be.  While our offices can’t help you fill out the application, we can put you in touch with an Accredited Claims Agent that can assist you at no charge.  The Accredited Claims Agents provide invaluable information and will assist with the application process to make sure it is filled out correctly the first time which will help you greatly improve your chances of getting reimbursed in a timely manner!
 

So what is it? Veterans Aid and Attendance (A&A) is a benefit paid in addition to monthly pension. Benefits may be available for Veterans and surviving spouses who require the regular attendance of another person to assist in bathing, dressing, meal preparation, medication monitoring or other various activities of daily living. This benefit is available to individuals who reside in assisted living communities, personal care homes, skilled nursing facilities and those receiving personal in-home care.

How can these benefits help and how much is available?
Aid and Attendance can help pay for care in the home, skilled nursing facility, personal care home or an assisted living community. A Veteran may be eligible for up to $19,728 per year, a Veteran with a dependent spouse may be eligible for up to $23,388 per year, a surviving spouse of a Veteran may be eligible for up to $12,672 per year and two Veterans married to each other may be eligible for up to $30,480 per year.

Who is Eligible?
Any War Veteran with 90 days of active duty with at least one day during active War time. A surviving spouse of a War Veteran may be eligible if he/she remained married to the Veteran until his/her time of death and has not remarried. The only exception to this rule is if the remarriage took place after January 1, 1971 and ended before November 1, 1990. The individual must meet medical, service and financial qualifications as described below.

Medical Qualifications

1. The Veteran requires the aid of another person in order to perform personal functions required in everyday living, such as bathing, feeding, dressing, attending to the wants of nature, adjusting prosthetic devices, or protecting himself/herself from the hazards of his/her daily environment, OR,
2. The Veteran is bedridden, in that his/her disability or disabilities requires that he/she remain in bed apart from any prescribed course of convalescence or treatment, OR,
3. The Veteran is a patient in a nursing home due to mental or physical incapacity, OR,
4. The Veteran is blind, or so nearly blind as to have corrected visual acuity of 5/200 or less, in both eyes, and concentric contraction of the visual field to 5 degrees or less.

Service Qualifications

1. At least 90 days of active duty, but need not have served in combat.
2. One day of active duty during a period of war (table below lists qualifying periods of war)
3. Discharged from service under conditions other than dishonorable

War or Conflict
WWII:12/7/1941 to 12/31/1946
Korean Conflict: 6/27/1950 to 1/31/1955
Vietnam Era: 8/5/1964 to 5/7/1975; for Veterans who served “in country” before 8/5/1664, then 2/28/1961 to 5/7/1975 is applicable.
Gulf War: At least 24 months, 8/2/1990 until a date to be set by law or Presidential Proclamation.

Financial Qualifications

1. VA compares gross monthly income to out of pocket medical expenses.
2. Assets are included in the equation for eligibility. Personal property such as the Veteran’s home or vehicle,   are not included in this calculation.
3. A complicated Income and Asset Test must be “passed” in order to qualify. VA does not disclose this special provision to the public. If these are submitted incorrectly the Veteran will be denied the benefit. Therefore, we strongly recommend you contact your Senior Helpers representative who can put you in contact with VA Accredited Claims Agent who can complete the forms for you- at no charge to you.

There is also a “Housebound” benefit that can be paid in addition to monthly pension, and, like A&A, Housebound benefits first require eligibility to pension (different criteria apply). A Veteran cannot receive both Aid and Attendance and Housebound benefits at the same time.

If I am already receiving monthly payments or a service-connected disability can I get a VA pension too?
You cannot receive a VA non-service connected pension and service-connected compensation at the same time. However, if you apply for pension and are awarded payments, VA will pay you whichever benefit is greater.

How do I apply for Veterans non-service connected pension?
Contact your local Senior Helpers office for assistance and they will provide you with the information you need, including referral to an accredited claims agent who can assist you with your application.