A & A and Medicaid.

[JeffreyS]

My father is currently in a nursing home in Michigan, very little income to speak of so he is under Medicaid/Medicare, and qualifies for Aid and Attendance.  He has been told that he can claim the Aid and Attendance and he does NOT have to report it to either Medicaid or the nursing home.  Is this true, or can someone point me to someone who could tell me or show me a regulation that covers this.  I don't want him getting his hopes up or getting himself in trouble.

Thank you

[JennyGanz]

Jeffrey
I'm still trying to navigate the ins and outs of Medicaid and Aid and Attendance...  It would be wonderful if we could have a guest expert on this forum who could advise on how Medicaid works with Veterans monies (both for Homebound recipients and for those in nursing homes.)

I googled:   aid and attendance medicaid   and was brought to a website
veteransaidbenefit.org.  There was more info than what I copied and pasted below but following is some basic info   (My understanding is that Medicaid with A&A  folk in nursing homes  get to keep $90/month of spending money  vs. $60/month if Medicaid but not A&A)

From the website:
"Unfortunately, in most cases, Pension (A&A)  does not work well for paying the costs of a nursing home. This is because the amount of Pension income is rarely enough to cover the difference between the cost of the nursing home and the beneficiary's income. On the other hand, Medicaid will cover this difference in cost and in most cases Medicaid is a better alternative to Pension.

Eligibility for Medicaid causes difficulty for those beneficiaries who also want to receive Pension income in a nursing home. For a single person, VA refuses to pay the full Pension benefit if that person is eligible for Medicaid and will only pay $90 a month towards nursing home costs. For a beneficiary with a spouse at home, the combination of Pension and Medicaid may not work due to Medicaid rules. Finally, if assets have to be gifted in order to qualify for Pension, this could make the potential Pension beneficiary ineligible for Medicaid."

Good luck... Let us know what you find out...   Jenny