Paying for Memory Care with VA Benefits: A Family Guide to Aid and Attendance
If your loved one served in the military, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) may help pay for memory care. Many families near The Villages don’t realize this help exists until they’re already paying for care. Here’s a plain-language guide to the VA benefit families ask us about most: the Aid and Attendance benefit.
What is Aid and Attendance?
Aid and Attendance is an extra monthly payment added to a VA pension. It’s for wartime veterans, and surviving spouses of wartime veterans, who need help with everyday activities like bathing, dressing, eating or taking medications. People living with Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia often qualify because they need that kind of daily help and supervision.
The money is paid to the veteran or surviving spouse, and families can use it toward the cost of care, including memory care. For the current maximum amounts, see our Veteran’s Aid page, which we update each year when the VA adjusts its rates.
An under-used benefit
The VA itself has described Aid and Attendance as an under-used benefit, and many veterans and their families never learn they may qualify. That’s a shame, because the help can be significant. With Aid and Attendance, the maximum benefit is:
- Up to $2,424 a month for a single veteran
- Up to $2,874 a month for a married veteran
- Up to $1,558 a month for a surviving spouse with no dependents
These are the VA’s maximum rates effective December 1, 2025; the actual amount is reduced by a family’s countable income. And Aid and Attendance is just one of the benefits available to veterans and their families.
Veterans should have access to the benefits they earned. We’re happy to help you find out whether you may qualify for VA benefits that can help pay for assisted living and memory care.
Who may qualify?
In general, the VA looks at four things:
- Wartime service. The veteran served at least one day during a recognized wartime period, such as World War II, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam War era or the Gulf War, and met the VA’s minimum length of service.
- Discharge. The veteran didn’t receive a dishonorable discharge.
- Age or disability. The veteran is 65 or older, or has a permanent and total disability.
- Income and net worth. Family income and net worth must be under limits set by Congress. For December 1, 2025 through November 30, 2026, the net worth limit is $163,699. Your home, car and most household furnishings don’t count toward it.
To receive Aid and Attendance, the veteran or surviving spouse must also need help with daily activities, be largely confined to bed, live in a nursing home because of a disability, or have severely limited eyesight.
Care costs can lower your counted income
The VA lets families subtract out-of-pocket medical expenses from their income when figuring the pension, and ongoing care costs can add up to a large deduction. That means a veteran whose income seems too high on paper may still qualify once care costs are counted. The VA decides which expenses count, so keep records of what you pay.
Watch out for the look-back period
The VA reviews any assets given away or sold for less than they’re worth in the three years before you apply. If those transfers would have put net worth over the limit, the VA can impose a penalty period of up to five years with no pension. Talk to an accredited advisor before moving money or property to qualify.
How to apply
- Gather documents: the veteran’s discharge papers (DD-214), recent income and bank statements, and records of medical and care expenses.
- Get a doctor’s exam. A medical examiner must complete the exam section of VA Form 21-2680, describing the help your loved one needs.
- Apply for the pension with VA Form 21P-527EZ (veterans) or 21P-534EZ (surviving spouses), and include the Aid and Attendance exam form. You can apply online at VA.gov, by mail, or at a VA regional office.
Get free help, and avoid fees
You don’t have to do this alone, and you shouldn’t have to pay to apply. County Veteran Service Officers in Sumter, Lake and Marion counties, and VA-accredited representatives from veterans organizations, help families prepare claims at no cost. Be cautious of anyone who charges a fee to file a first-time pension claim or offers to move your assets so you qualify.
We’re here to help
Families often combine VA benefits with long-term care insurance, Florida Medicaid or private funds to pay for care, and Generations accepts all of these. If you’re exploring memory care for a veteran or surviving spouse, schedule a tour or call us at (352) 474-2696. We’re glad to talk through your options.
This article is general information, not legal or financial advice. Rules and amounts change; check VA.gov or ask an accredited representative about your situation.
