I recently received a letter that I wanted to share on our blog. This is a situation we see far too frequently where the VA is trying to reduce the VA pension amount that a Veteran is receiving. Many Veterans are not aware of the unreimbursed medical expenses they can claim, so hopefully this will help shed some light on this matter. Below is the letter and my response:
Dear VA Guy,
My father died. My mother is receiving VA pension — Aid and Attendance. We received a letter from the VA saying that they’re going to take $300 from mom’s pension benefit because of her increase in Social Security. Tell us what you can do to help.
So lately the VA’s technical systems have become more sophisticated and their computers have started talking to the IRS and Social Security computers. The VA is able to tell when you receive an increase in Social Security payments via a cost of living increase. They also can detect the subsequent reduction in your Medicare premium. They then use this information to try and reduce your VA pension amount because it is a needs-based benefit.
The VA is using these figures to determine what we call your “income for VA purposes.” In this case the writer’s mom was receiving more income and had less in Medicare premium, so the VA was going to reduce her benefit by $300. We must then take a look at all the unreimbursed medical expenses that the Veteran (or spouse) had paid or is paying. We can use these expenses to reduce her “income for VA purposes,” despite the Social Security increase.
What Are Unreimbursed Medical Expenses?
Unreimbursed medical expenses include Medicare premiums, third party health insurance, prescription medications, doctor visits, and copays. If you have caretakers that are coming to your mother’s house, then you get to deduct the cost of those caretakers as well. We have to add all of those unreimbursed medical expenses and compare them to the income she is receiving from Social Security. And hopefully after doing the math, your mother will have zero income for VA purposes.
It is important to note that you can’t count other expenses like your utility bill, gas for your car, or a grocery bill. The VA is only concerned with reimbursing your mother for her medical expenses that she has had to pay out of pocket. It can’t be utilities or groceries. It has to be a medical expense.
You also have to be careful when submitting medical expenses for caretakers. There are some additional things to consider with respect to caretaker reimbursement, but we’ll be glad to help with that. There is a form called VA Form 21P-8416 that we’ll need to complete so that we can declare all your unreimbursed medical expenses. We have to justify the need for the caretaker so that we can count those expenses against her income for VA purposes.
Contact Us So We Can Help!
If you need assistance with VA Pension, complete this form or give us a call at (229) 226-8183. If you’d like to see this blog in video format, you can watch it below. Please be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel and click the bell notification button so that you’re notified each time we publish a new video.