Has anyone ever applied for va Aid and Attendance for a surviving spouse with dementia and actually been successful in getting benefits for their loved one?
My almost 91 yr. old mother suffers from dementia and has really gone down since January. Up until then, she was living in her home but now she's in a rehab facility and she has to leave there on Thursday after less than 30 days because her rehabilitation has reached a plateau. She was supposed to leave last Thursday, but she paid out of pocket for another week since Medicare won't pay after a plateau.
We're looking for an assisted living facility with a memory unit and we heard Mother might be able to get some VA Aid and Attendance benefits since my father served in the navy during WWII. BUT, I've been researching it, and it sounds like it's not even worth trying. It can take almost a year to get the application processed and that's not even taking into consideration someone like my mother who has dementia and will need the VA to appoint a fiduciary.
I don't even know how to get the process started - the application seems to be for someone without dementia and I don't even know how to get the VA to start the process of appointing a fiduciary.
I'm so frustrated and this thing with the VA makes me so angry. My father served his country well and now he's dead and my mother needs those benefits for her care and it seems impossible to get them. I've read from different sources that the VA frequently "loses" the applications.
I hope someone can offer such suggestions, advice or encouragement. And if not, thanks for letting me vent.
I want to give up so badly, but I can't.
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