Yes. Patriot Care provides both VA paid home health aides as well as private pay services. Contact us to learn what services are available to you!

There are a variety of programs available to assist veterans with their health care and daily activities in their own homes. To begin, in-home care is part of the Standard Medical Benefits Package. This program is for veterans who need personal care services, help with activities of daily living, who are experiencing isolation, or if their caregiver is experiencing burden. These services can be combined with other benefits.

Disability compensation is tax-free monthly income paid to a veteran with a current service-connected disability or disease. The disability or disease has to be a result of active duty service, active duty for training or injury from VA healthcare.

Aid & Attendance pension and a related pension enhancement for aging and ailing veterans, the Housebound allowance, have distinct qualification criteria related to the recipient’s physical condition and capabilities. The programs are aimed at veterans in financial need and also restrict eligibility based on income and assets.

You may be eligible for housebound benefits if you get a VA pension and you spend most of your time in your home because of a permanent disability (a disability that doesn’t go away).

Veterans and their surviving spouses who are approved for A&A can use their benefits to hire in-home care providers, including family members who are working as caregivers. You may be eligible for A&A if you get a VA pension and you meet at least one of the requirements listed below:

-You need another person to help you perform daily activities, like bathing, feeding, and dressing

-You have to stay in bed—or spend a large portion of the day in bed—because of illness

-You are a patient in a nursing home due to the loss of mental or physical abilities related to a disability, or

-Your eyesight is limited (even with glasses or contact lenses you have only 5/200 or less in both eyes; or concentric contraction of the visual field to 5 degrees or less).

-You can not get Aid and Attendance benefits and Housebound benefits at the same time. Your Patriot Care coordinator will help determine if you are eligible for either these benefits. Please visit the VA Pension Rate webpage for the latest compensation figures.

Patriot Care will help you identify and obtain the documents you will need for your application. Then, we will help you complete and submit the application to the VA. We will also monitor your application’s progress and help with any additional steps, such as if the VA requests follow-up documents.

Applications can take several months to process. But if those benefits are approved, they are retroactive to the date the application was submitted.

You absolutely can! You are more than welcome to handle the paperwork on your own, and then reach out to us when you are ready to set up a care plan. However, because the process can be time-consuming and complex, most people appreciate having a guide.

Just like there may be some years when you choose to file taxes on your own, there may be other years where you decide to use the services of an accountant. Similarly, our specialized care teams know the ins and outs of the system to make sure you are getting the maximum benefits.

Patriot Care has dozens of Life Care Professionals (LCPs) to serve your needs. As we are setting up your care plan, we will ask you about your personal interests and preferences. If you love talking baseball, we will look for an LCP who does too! If you have a special diet and need someone who can help you with meal planning, we’ll find an LCP who can meet those needs. We can not promise their lasagna will be as good as your grandmother’s but we can promise your groceries and meals will fit your preferences and dietary needs.

You will have the opportunity to meet your LCP before setting up a schedule. We understand how important it is that you are comfortable with that person coming into your home and spending time with you. If at any time circumstances change and you would prefer a new LCP, we will always accommodate your request.

Our Patriot Care LCPs have specialized training for veterans. Many are either veterans themselves or have family members who served. They are well prepared to manage PTSD and other common veteran health care needs, including supporting your family caregivers, in addition to respecting and honoring the traditions of your service.

We love to hire veterans! If you would like to learn more about working for Patriot Care, please visit our Careers webpage.

In order to access some care benefits, veterans will need documentation to show they need

help with activities of daily living (ADLs). These activities include bathing and getting dressed, remembering to take medications on time, cooking and eating healthy meals, running errands, and attending medical appointments. It is not necessary to need help with all these activities to qualify for special benefits.

The necessary documentation is usually done by your VA primary care provider during a regular appointment. Before your appointment, Patriot Care can help you create a list of topics to discuss during your next discussion with your primary care provider. This will ensure that your provider understands your home care goals and is able to provide documentation for the benefits you deserve. We understand that medical appointments are often filled with overwhelming amounts of information. Having a list of objectives can make the process more efficient, less stressful, and prevent an unneeded repeat visit.

It is also important to note that just because you qualify for these benefits does not mean you will be forced to use them. For example, if you qualify for assistance with activities such as meal preparation, but prefer to cook for yourself, that is perfectly fine. There may be some exceptions, such as if doing so creates a safety hazard, but our goal is always to encourage as much independence as possible.

There are a variety of reasons why you may have been denied benefits in a previous application. Perhaps you were not requesting benefits that matched your service or there was a mistake in the paperwork. Whatever the case, we recommend trying again because the VA has changed many of its eligibility requirements in recent years.

In addition, if your medical or financial status has changed, you may be qualified for additional benefits. We can help you understand why you were denied and make sure that it does not happen again.

We expect that your needs will change. It may be that you need to have surgery and will temporarily need extra care. Or, perhaps an adult child moves closer to home and is able to provide care so your Patriot Care needs decrease. Whatever the circumstance, we will adapt to fit your needs.

No problem! Whether you are moving by choice or a transfer, such as if an active duty spouse is reassigned, we will work with you to create a seamless transition to your new location.

We think it is very important for our Life Care Professionals (LCPs) to understand the nuances of military and veteran life. Many of our LCPs are veterans themselves or have veterans in the family, but we also offer special courses to make sure our LCPs have appropriate training knowledge.

Kennedy Care Academy provides five military/veteran caregiving courses that our LCPs get paid to take! The courses focus on understanding the military as a culture, meeting VA expectations, managing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and trauma, and caring for common veteran injuries such as traumatic brain injuries.

Navigating the VA can be daunting for veterans, and even more so for family members who did not serve in the military. It can be a classic case of, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” However, the Patriot Care team is well versed in helping non-veterans navigate the system on behalf of their loved ones. There are no silly questions! We are here to help you from whatever level of familiarity you have with the VA.

Additionally, in-home care isn’t just for the benefit of veterans. It provides family caregivers with valuable respite time to manage your own self-care, work schedule and/or household duties. These services can be used in conjunction with others, like adult daycare, to help ease the burden on family members.