Senior Care Associates - VA Aid & Attendance Specialists Nationwide

Taking the keys: When seniors need to stop driving Published on April 23, 2012 by By Lois M. Collins, Deseret NewsAs they got old, Bill and Betty Lamb learned to make compromises so they could, for a time, continue on as if advancing age had no effect. He still drove on their beloved afternoon rambles, but he was no longer the only pilot, determinedly in charge and certain of his way. His wife kept track of where they were, telling him to turn here or there.He was a man you could have dropped from a helicopter anywhere and hed have found his way home, his daughter, Sandra Lamb, says. Except he was getting lost in familiar places near his Denver home. And when it got bad enough, she could no longer avoid the topic shed long dreaded: It was time, she told her 82-year-old dad, to give up his car keys. It wasnt safe for him or for others on the road.It was painful to see his reaction. I felt so sorry for him. And for herself, too. He didnt speak to her for almost two years. One day, living in Michigan, she got a panicked call from her mom. Hed found a spare set of keys, she said, and was loading the car with nonsensical items, getting ready to drive home.She told her to call the police. Faced with their authority, he turned the keys over without a battle. He was done with driving, though he continued to fume. Driving may represent identity, independence and more to seniors. Giving up driving is an unwelcome rite of passage among the elderly, complicated by the fact that people age out of safe driving unpredictably. Some at 85 are well enough to continue without much problem, though they may prefer to stay in familiar territory or on slower streets. But dementia, macular degeneration and other maladies common in old age can make driving a very hazardous pursuit for others, at even younger ages.Its a potentially deadly dilemma for families. Stacey Hilton of Senior Helpers, an in-home senior care company, does a sobering recap: By 2030, 70 million-plus Americans will be at least 65, and more than 90 percent of them will be licensed to drive. Some will no longer be capable of doing so safely. She points to four accidents in March alone. In Massachusetts, an 89-year-old man who hadnt renewed his license for 25 years is charged after killing a pedestrian. In California, a woman, 81, accidentally hits the gas and kills another driver and a pedestrian. Elsewhere in the state, a man, 85, hits a tree and dies. In Ohio, a woman, 69, goes the wrong way on the freeway and kills three college students and herself, and injures others.Time to talkBut the give me the keys talk requires care, say both experts and adult children whove done it. Its a conversation so fraught with land mines that AARP and the Hartfordand MIT AgeLab created a free online course explaining the emotional connections to driving and offering suggestions. Its called We Need to Talk.Hartfords survey notes that adults in their 40s are the most apt to be concerned about an older family members ability to drive, but a third of those who are worried have not yet broached the subject with the older driver. They say theyre worried the driver will react badly, they dont know what to say and they havent figured out transportation alternatives.But before you rush to take away the keys simply because someones old, consider this tale from Bonnie Russell of Asheville, N.C. My father is 89. Still driving. In fact, two years ago his defensive driving skills and fast reflexes (hes an ex-pilot) saved us both from a bad accident after a woman cut in front of us on the freeway and then slammed on her brakes. But shes seen the other side, too. When she worked for a police department, she says, people occasionally asked them to take away their parents car keys. The least painful way is to work out a deal with DMV to send out a notice for a drivers license re-test which they will fail. Some states will do so immediately. Others wait until the renewal date.On the AARP website, warning signs of trouble include being easily distracted while driving, hitting curbs, trouble merging, poor judgment making left turns and failure to follow traffic signs and signals. You look for patterns, not a single incident. Others add to the list. Being overly cautious or slow is dangerous. Medications can impair ability. Senior Helpers, which among other services offers drivers for hire, notes that sleep issues, common to the elderly, impair driving and slow reflexes. Jody Gastfriend, vice president at Care.com, says concerned kin should check recent driving records that, along with dings and dents, can warn that ability is fading.A rough conversationMarion Somers, known as eldercare adviser Dr. Marion, remembers her conversation with her own dad as the worst of her life. She lived in New York, he was in Florida, but she was the familys designated doer of taking away the keys. She rode with him to see how bad his driving really was. It was awful. His skill had diminished at an alarming rate. She said she was concerned by what shed seen, but mostly she was worried for him. Could you live with hitting a child? she asked. She put the focus on hurting someone else so he wouldnt dig in his heels and shoo her away.They made a list of the things he had to drive to do. Then they tackled them. It was not one conversation, but a series. She looked into public transportation options and found theyd take him half the places he needed to go. So they practiced getting there by bus to build up his confidence. They sold his car and put the money into a transportation account with which she paid his taxi bill each month. When it ran out, she paid it. To not have to run down to Florida for some emergency caused by his driving was worth it to me, she says. And they recruited friends for activities, like taking him to religious services. Just saying thats it, though, is not enough. Somers says to notify the Department of Motor Vehicles and the car insurance company, then turn in the license plates. Make sure the eyeglass prescription is right, that hearing is appropriate, as well. Sometimes, adjusting one of those solves the driving problem for a while. Her dad got a three-wheeled cycle so he could toot around the community and be outdoors and independent. She found a grocer who delivered when he couldnt get out.If you dont live nearby, she says, check with neighbors. They know and theyre concerned. When you talk on the phone, really talk. And really listen. Most elderly learn to fake being fine because they fear losing independence. The fade is hard to maintain. Mental deterioration on any level shows up within 20 minutes.It is crucial to have your parents look at transportation alternatives well before giving up the car keys, says John Z. Wetmore, of Bethesda, Md., producer of the cable TV series Perils for Pedestrians. Do your parents know where the local bus routes go? Have they ever used the bus? Simple things like not knowing what the fare is, or how transfers work, can be embarrassing to a grown adult. It is easier to give up driving if they are already making occasional use of the alternatives while they are still driving.eHow.com recommends having a parent take a drivers test something most states dont require. The results can make it easier for a parent with diminished capacity to accept that divings no longer a good option. No time to wasteEric Ward himself recognized as his 85th birthday approached that driving wasnt safe and offered his daughter, Pat Hoyrup, his prized possession, a Lincoln Continental. She jumped on the plane from her Coupeville, Wash., home. I didnt give him time to change his mind. Shed been wondering how to approach the topic.Daniel Grays conversation with his mom took place when he picked her up after shed been pulled over for hitting some mailboxes. She blamed medications but recognized her driving days were over, he says. The following years were challenging, and I spent a significant amount of time ferrying Mom about, but I wouldnt trade them for the world. I test drive cars and have great memories of helping Mom climb in and out of a wide range of vehicles in our travels, from a Camaro SS to a Mini Cooper convertible. Cadillacs to Prius, we had some great conversations.To do it right, you cant simply take away the keys, says Gray, of Belle Mead, N.J. They have to be hung up voluntarily, while theres still some quality time left.After Ward gave his daughter his car, he downsized his world to the pieces he could reach on bike until little strokes took those wheels away, as well. Then he walked to the store and through his Midvale, Utah, neighborhood. Friends and relatives were happy to help him get where he needed to go.He died years ago, but Hoyrup thinks about the challenge of age and driving still. Shes 72, living on an island that requires a ferry ride. Lately, she finds herself asking a friend to drive sometimes and she no longer drives in the dark. At some point in time, we will need to move to a place where were close to stores; right now we live on five acres.Diane Dennis dad was sidelined by a massive stroke as he was driving. He managed to reach a gas station where someone called 911. Dennis, a nurse in Portland, Ore., was his designated spokesperson for medical issues. After the hospital, he was sent to a skilled nursing facility. He wanted to be home, wanted his life the way it had been. Dennis worked with the doctor and others to leave him there long enough to convince him he needed help at home and could not drive any more.He never forgave her for interfering with his independence. They were estranged and she kept track of him only through other family members for the rest of his life. I chose to make the doctors office the determining factor for removing my dads driving privileges, says Pamela Hoffine of Sweet Home, Ore. It just made it easier to appease my dad because the doctor, of course, is the expert and the ultimate professional in determining the safety and hazard contingencies linked with my fathers health.When Holly Deitz took her dads car keys away, she also bought an umbrella insurance policy on the off chance he gets his hands on my moms keys. My very wise accountant clued me in on this very necessary but completely underutilized insurance product whereby if my father does get behind the wheel and does something horrible, there will be enough easy money for an attorney to get his hands on. That way the chance of my parents losing everything is much less, she says.Years after Bill Lamb died, Betty Lamb was forced to stop driving by macular degeneration. This time, daughter Sandra didnt confront it directly; she let the doctor do it. It was less stressful for the family when he played the heavy, she says, noting that her cousin just disabled her elderly moms car and then put off the repair until being careless became the norm.My advice, says Sandra Lamb, is if you dont have to be confrontational, its better. Losing the things you felt you had the skill to do and you have a long track record of doing well, giving up those things is not easy at all. She arranged lots of rides for her mom. Her real fear was being isolated. Giving up driving, which gave her a huge amount of independence, was hard. The sting was smaller when she saw she could still go and do and enjoy.Lundy Wilders dad was a doctor who had saved well for retirement. When it because obvious he and his wife shouldnt be driving, their four kids formed a united front to stress that if something bad happened while driving, they could lose all their savings to a lawsuit. Then they set up an account with an agency that sent a driver out every day. Daddy complained, as did Momma, but we stuck to our guns, says Wilder, of Gulf Shores, Ala. The solid front helped. They managed that by collaborating by phone, city to city. Her folks werent pleased, but they went along with the program.Ultimately, they became close to the driver, who became their hired caregiver in their final months.Tips on taking the keysHave a checkup to see if vision, hearing or a medication accounts for the diminished driving skill. Those may be reversible. AAA and AARP offer classes for mature drivers to help retrain them to be safe drivers. The National Safety Council offers a safe driving test. Talk about the possibility they could hurt someone else. Many older adults are more horrified at the thought of hurting someone than they are at the loss of independence. Suggest taking the drivers test to see if current skills are adequate.Encourage a parent to talk to his or her physician, other relatives and trusted friends. If that doesnt do it and youre worried, contact the Department of Motor Vehicles in your state. The rules vary, but in some cases a license can be revoked, at least temporarily. Dont forget to replace it with a state identification card. As a last resort, remove access to the car. Thats tougher to do. But sometimes it works.Make sure they use alternative forms of transportation occasionally before they have to give up the keys, so theyre not intimidated or uncomfortable. Point out that it doesnt mean you cant stay in your home as long as there are other transportation choices available. It also helps to live in a neighborhood with sidewalks and with stores and amenities close by.

My squadron received orders to ship out to destination PLUM. We left Salt Lake City on October 21, 1941. We arrived in Manila noon November 20 on Thanksgiving Day. We were served sauerkraut and wieners for Thanksgiving dinner. We left Manila November 29th for the island of Mindanao to set up an airbase.On December 8th, 1941, instead of the 7th due to being on the other side of the International Date Line, we learned that Pearl Harbor had been attacked.On May 6th word came that all the Philippine Islands had been surrendered to the Japanese. We were taken as prisoners of war to a Philippino army camp in the middle of Mindanao. We were moved from this camp October 17th and shipped to the Davao Penal colony. Others were shipped down from Manilla to help run the colony, these were the men who had survived the Bataan death march and were in very poor health.May 1944 we received the first letters from home since leaving home and it was one and a half years old. June 6, 1944 we were shipped to Japan. The trip took 3 months of deplorable conditions, which normally took 10 days. Arrived at Moji, Japan, September 1, 1944 where we were to work in the copper and acid factory. For two weeks we drilled out on the cold beach with only a hat, shoes and underwear on.On June 18th, 1945 we had the first bombing of our factory by the allied forces. August 15, 1945 stopped work at the factory and on the 24th we were notified that the war was over. It came just in time for me as I had a hard time getting any sleep for many nights due to the fleas, bed bugs and lice that were about to get the best of me.On September 4, 1945 we marched out of camp waving flags some of the men had made, while U.S. and British planes buzzed overhead. I arrived back in Salt Lake City, October 21, four years to the day after leaving.Editors Note: This article was submitted by Carole Autrey, Director of Senior Care Associates. She may be reached at 801-424-1444 .

Aid & Attendance was established in 1952 to provide financial assistance to wartime veterans and/or their surviving spouses who lack the funds necessary to pay for the care they require with routine activities of daily living. Those who served our country during the following wars (whether overseas or stateside) are eligible for a special payment to assist them with providing care for themselves, a spouse or surviving spouse: WWII, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam War, or the first Gulf War.This pension is designed to help the veteran pay for the assistance of someone to help them with the activities of daily living such as medication management, dressing, mobility, meal preparation, or bathing. Care can be provided at home, in an independent living facility, an assisted living facility, or a nursing home and the care can be provided by relatives, or professional staff. A single veteran may receive up to $19,728 per year. While a married Veteran may receive $23,388. The benefit for a surviving spouse of a veteran is $12,672 per year. This pension is payable monthly and is paid directly to the veteran or spouses bank account similar to a social security check , it is completely TAX FREE.Many veterans or their surviving spouses require the assistance of someone to come in to help them with things such as cooking, cleaning, driving to appointments etc. while at the same time helping them with some personal care. Many of these seniors prefer to stay at home but cannot afford to have someone help them with these activities. With this tax-free pension, they would be able to afford the assistance they need in home or move into a facility that provides them with the care they need.If you served our country during a period of war, check out your eligibility for this benefit. If you require assistance at home, if you currently live in a senior retirement community or assisted living facility, or if nursing care is inevitable, you may be able to increase your standard of living or move into the type of facility where you can receive the care you need.www.veteransofutah.comThis article was submitted by Carole Autry of Senior Care Associates. She can be reached at 801-424-1444

60 Minutes, CBS January 30, 2010There is a sacred tradition in the military: leave no one behind on the battlefield. But many veterans are beginning to believe their country has left them behind at home, once theyre out of uniform and in need of help. That help is supposed to come from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the financial compensation it gives to veterans.It was Abraham Lincoln who said the purpose of the VA was to care for him who shall have borne the battle. But the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have pushed the VA further behind in that mission, and today there are a million veterans waiting for the VA to handle their disability claims.That has led some to latch onto another motto making the rounds for how the VA operates: Delay, Deny and Hope That I Die.Why, then, is the claim form 23 pages long? Pitts asked. A 23-page application form I think is probably goes beyond just what is required. And one of the things that were looking at is to try to simplify the process, Walcoff said.Add to that the recession, which is forcing more veterans to turn to the VA for help. All of those things have resulted in the Veterans Benefits Administration facing a backlog of one million claims, Sullivan told Pitts.Veterans wait on average about six months to receive an initial answer on a disability claim. If a veteran disagrees with VAs decision, the veteran waits another four years. That is a crisis, Sullivan said.Robinson told Pitts he was proud to serve and work for the VA, but that hes not proud of the work the VA is doing. We can do better, he said.Problems in the VAs benefits branch have been the subject of GAO reports and congressional hearings for years. Starting in 2007, the VA received sizable increases in its budget and began hiring thousands of new employees. Yet the backlog of claims keeps growing.We keep trying to fix it, but it keeps getting out of hand. We throw more money at the problem, more people, we still have the problem, Robinson said. So, what is it then? If more people cant fix the problem, more money cant fix the problem, how do you fix it? Pitts asked. Its a culture. Its a leadership problem, Robinson replied.But last March, the VAs inspector general discovered that the VA was making more mistakes than it reported: the internal investigation found that nearly one out of four files had errors. Thats 200,000 claims that may be incorrect. Attorney Douglas Rosinski has been handling veterans cases for ten years. He characterizes the VAs disability benefit system as broken.Claims are being denied unfairly, Rosinski says, because VA employees dont have the time to read the files thoroughly. When you get a denial, and it says, We didnt see, thats right. I mean, theyre not lying, but if you dont look, you dont see. And even if youre looking, its hard to find out whats in there, he told Pitts.Michael Walcoff told Pitts there is no incentive to deny claims. And theres no pressure from anybody to deny a claim. And I cant say it any simpler than that. David Pitts is an Air Force veteran and one of Rosinskis clients; he served for 18 years. Is your country serving you now? Byron Pitts asked. Its not my country thats doing this, its the VA. You know, there is no prouder American than I am, David Pitts replied.

By not planning for our futures today many of us are unknowingly leaving decisions about our futures to other, including long term care needs. Six in ten of us have not determined how well pay for our long care needs.40% of us dont know that long-term care is more than nursing home care. Taking control of long term care earlier in life enables us to live as well as possible how and where we want. This could include daily assistance with chronic conditions that last a long time. These services come from many sources.Only 23% of us know well likely pay for future care needs with personal savings. Medicare and private health insurance do not cover long-term services. Women live longer than men thus are the biggest users of long-term care. Women are typically so busy with their own lives and caring for others that they only address their own needs after everyone elses. Take some time and a few easy steps can provide peace of mind now and in the future. Know your family medical history. This will help prevent against chronic conditions that may have existed in your familys history. As you age take a look at your home. Do you have stairs to navigate? Is your bedroom and bathroom on the main floor? Take a look at your home and see if it suits your needs as you age.What amenities does your community offer? Do you have access to transportation, activities and services that are important to you? Talk to your family about future financial and medical wishes to ensure they are aware of what youd like.Know your finances. What options do you have now? What care options would you want for the future? Know what the costs are for long-term care needs, assisted living etc.Know your options. Go on line. Google. Call and ask questions of what is out there and what is available. Costs? Plan for the future. What are your lifestyle goals and needs?

Are you in need of care? Are you living in your home and need a caregiver or loved one to provide care? Have you moved into an assisted living or Skilled Nursing facility and are wondering how long your money will last? In 1952 a pension was put in place to help pay for this care. A Veteran may receive up to $1,644 a month. A Veteran and spouse may receive $1,949 a Veterans spouse $1,241 and a surviving spouse of a Veteran, up to $1,056 per month. This tax-free pension is paid directly into the Veteran or spouses bank account similar to their social security check. Many Veterans, their spouses or their surviving spouses require the assistance of someone to come in to assist with their activities of daily living such as cooking, medication management, transportation, bathing assistance, dressing etc. Many of these seniors prefer to stay at home but cannot afford to have someone help them with these activities. With this tax-free pension, they would be able to afford the assistance they need in their home or move into assisted living that provides them with the care they deserve.If the Veteran served our country 90 days active duty one day during a period of war (WWI, WWII, Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf) and was honorably discharged, you may be eligible for this pension. If you require assistance at home, if you currently live in an assisted living community, or if nursing care is inevitable, you may be able to increase your standard of living by offsetting the cost of your care and making it more affordable so you can receive the care you deserve.Call SENIOR CARE ASSOCIATES to see if you qualify!Editors Note:This article was submitted by Carole Autrey, Director of Senior Care Associates, 801-424-1444

Aid & Attendance was established in 1952 to provide financial assistance to wartime veterans and/or their surviving spouses who lack the funds necessary to pay for the care they require with routine activities of daily living.Those who served our country during the following wars (whether overseas or stateside) are eligible for a special payment to assist them with providing care for themselves, a spouse or surviving spouse: WWII, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam War, or the first Gulf War.This pension is designed to help the veteran pay for the assistance of someone to help them with the activities of daily living such as medication management, dressing, mobility, meal preparation, or bathing. Care can be provided at home, in an independent living facility, an assisted living facility, or a nursing home and the care can be provided by relatives, or professional staff.A single veteran may receive up to $19,728 per year. While a married Veteran may receive $23,388. The benefit for a surviving spouse of a veteran is $12,672 per year. This pension is payable monthly and is paid directly to the veteran or spouses bank account similar to a social security check , it is completely TAX FREE.Many veterans or their surviving spouses require the assistance of someone to come in to help them with things such as cooking, cleaning, driving to appointments etc. while at the same time helping them with some personal care. Many of these seniors prefer to stay at home but cannot afford to have someone help them with these activities. With this tax-free pension, they would be able to afford the assistance they need in home or move into a facility that provides them with the care they need.If you served our country during a period of war, check out your eligibility for this benefit.If you require assistance at home, if you currently live in a senior retirement community or assisted living facility, or if nursing care is inevitable, you may be able to increase your standard of living or move into the type of facility where you can receive the care you need.www.veteransofutah.comThis article was submitted by Carole Autry of SeniorCare Associates. She can be reached at 801-424-1444

Are you a war time Veteran? Are you a surviving spouse of a Veteran? If the answer to this is, "yes", then you may be eligible for a separate pension through the VA called Aid & Attendance. This pension has been around since 1952. Most Veterans and or spouses have never heard of this pension and sometimes find it hard to believe that it even exists. The Aid & Attendance pension is a separate pension set aside for those Veterans, spouses and surviving spouses who are aging and are at the point in their lives that they are in need of some assistance with their care. This care could be provided while living in your home, Retirement Living, Assisted Living or a Nursing Home. If you are in need of assistance with ADL's (activities of daily living) then you may qualify. Five areas are looked at to determine eligibility. 1) Were you a Veteran during a specific time of war, honorably discharged, served 90 days active duty, one day during war time, state side or overseas? 2) Do you have an expense for care? Expenses such as; prescriptions, Medicare supplement, doctors or hospital co-pays, caregiver or family members assisting with aid, retirement or assisted living expense etc. 3) Income- usually this is Social Security, Retirement, Pension, Rental Income etc. 4) Cash Assets- Checking and Savings, 401K, IRA's, Investments etc. 5) Health- if you are using a walker or a cane, oxygen, need meals, bathing, transportation, assistance, etc. If you feel you meet some of these criteria, you may qualify.What is this pension worth to me? A Veteran may receive $1,644 a month, a surviving spouse $ 1,056 a month, a Veteran and his spouse who both qualify $1,949 a month. This is a TAX-FREE pension. The pension is retroactive, meaning; you will receive monies back from the first day of the month after you apply. How long does it take to get the pension? 4-6 months. It will take longer when Alzheimer's or severe Dementia is involved due to an additional step that is required by the VA.Many Seniors have lost much of their savings due to the downward economy. This pension has helped many Veterans, spouses and surviving spouses increase their standard of living either by helping them afford care in their home, or the possibility of moving to or staying at a Retirement or Assisted Living.This article was submitted by Dennis Autrey of Senior Care Associates. He can be reached at 801-424-1444.

Families who are unable to sell their homes or who are not willing to leave the comfort of their homes as they age run into many issues. Am I living by myself? Is a neighbor willing or able to care for me? Are my children close enough to give me aid. If not, do I need to relocate to either live with them in their home or live close by. So many questions. Lets break this down. Staying at home. Can I maneuver the stairs? Am I able to do yard work? Is the house too big and doesnt serve its purpose anymore with the family grown and gone. Am I lonely? This leads to not eating well because you dont want to cook anymore, so you eat whats convenient, which isnt always good. Is it good to eat alone? Am I able to drive? If not, how do I get around to do shopping, hair appointments, doctors appointments etc. If I am driving, is it safe for me and those on the roads? There are many options to being able to stay at home. Lets break this down. Is their family in the area that can assist with your needs? How about a neighbor, church etc.? You can usually rely on family to assist with your needs. What I hear from seniors is that they know their children are busy with their own lives and dont want to be a bother. Many times, we run into family caregiver burnout which could lead to abuse. Make sure we are all in check when you know this could lead to abuse. Other stay at home options for care are to hire a Home Personal Care Agency. The advantage to this is that they need to be licensed through the state, caregivers should have criminal background checks performed, liability insurance and bonded. Just in case something is stolen or an accident is caused everyone is covered. You will usually pay an hourly rate depending on where you live and how much care is involved. It could run anywhere from $15-$25 an hour. Some agencies will accept Medicaid, which will cover your costs. The VA also offers benefits for Veterans and their spouses such as caregivers coming in to offer personal services such as housekeeping, laundry etc. They will also do yard work. The Area Agency on Aging, which is usually county run also offers many services and a phone call to them is well worth the time and effort. They offer transportation, meals on wheels etc. Another option is having a Home Health and Hospice company come in which is covered under Medicare. Their services are based around medical care, taking blood pressure or blood, medication administering, bathing assistance etc. If you are paying out-of-pocket for any services and you are either a Veteran, a spouse or a surviving spouse to a Veteran, the Aid and Attendance pension is another option to pay for this. 

To learn more about Senior Care Associates - VA Aid & Attendance Specialists Nationwide, CLICK HERE. As the backlogged number of unprocessed VA claims is knocking on the door of 1 million, one has to wonder is anybody really at home. Is anyone really trying to find the solution of how to fix and bring this broken agency up to the standards our veterans and their families deserve? I had high hopes for the new VA administration, but to date, have not been impressed. Every day there is yet another story about a Regional Office that has been caught shredding and changing dates on applications, or boxes of unopened applications are being discovered. There are not enough fingers to cover the holes in this dam. If the IRS was having this issue with collecting taxes from We the People, I can promise you that this would have been resolved and systems put into place to make certain it would never happen again. Of this you can be certain, the IRS would not stand by and have 1 million tax returns waiting to be processed. So here is my take on all this and a couple of questions that I believe bear asking. I think the VA needs to take a crash course in how the IRS does things. These folks dont lose tax returns they keep up with every dime you make. You can file online, they know if you havent filed, and if you are owed a refund, you can expect it in 30-45 days. If you owe money and dont pay, you are assessed a penalty and will pay dearly for that. Big incentive for making sure you allot the right number of deductions. Most of us hope to never know what an audit notification looks like. If your taxes are complicated or more than you want to deal with, you can make an appointment with the fine folks at H&R Block or your personal accountant and pay someone to prepare them for you. Now here is where I take issue. How is it that you can legally seek the expertise of someone who understands complicated tax laws, forms, and all the legitimate deductions and credits you are entitled to just to make certain that the IRS gets a full accounting of your finances and their piece of your pie, but veterans and their families legally are restricted from any assistance attached with a fee and are left to figure it out on their own. Two government agencies, two different approaches, two different agendas. It is legal to make sure you pay your taxes, but illegal to make certain your claim for benefits is correct and complete in order to receive your entitlements. Interesting that there should be such a stark contrast between the two and who actually benefits from this arrangement. Decades ago the VA instituted a law that an attorney could not charge a veteran more than $10.00 for representing him. This was done to protect the veteran from being taken advantage of by those who would be so inclined to do so. So one might have to ask, who is truthfully exploiting and taking advantage of our veterans and their families? Considering some recent actions on the part of the VA, the answer to this question may not be what youd expect. The application for Improved Pension was originally a 4-page, simple straight forward application. Due to the benefit being highlighted and the rise in the number of applications being submitted, the VA decided it was time to increase it to a 26-page application, and write it so that you probably wont figure it out increasing the odds they wont have to pay or at the very least delay having to pay. While the benefit sat idle and unused, 4 pages seemed to make perfect sense. Now that Baby Boomers are our largest demographic and the VA is being flooded with applications for Aid and Attendance, whose best interest is it in that the process should suddenly become so much more complicated? The veteran is not who first comes to mind as to who stands to gain the most from this change. It seems a little suspect as to the true motivation for having done so. Is the VA once again protecting the veteran? If you dont get it right the first time, you should not feel too badly about it as the national rate of applications being returned to the originating VA regional and local offices as being incomplete or missing documentation is 46%. I wonder if these same employees who failed VA Open Book tests could find permanent employment with the IRS. I suspect that performance standards are probably just a little higher. Millions of taxpayers monies going uncollected not going to happen, but it is ok for a million veterans to be waiting on the VA to get it right. There is something incredibly wrong with this scenario. The VA continues to operate off an antiquated Fiduciary process refusing to acknowledge POA or DPOA. The IRS acknowledges POA. Your mom or dad might have some investments that pay dividends, so there may be some monies to be collected, so for the sake of efficiency they will gladly work with you to assure a proper return has been filed. The VAs refusal to respond to the demands of accepting POA and doing away with the fiduciary process is once again done in the name of protecting the veteran. According to the VA they have to make certain that the family member or other interested party who holds POA cant take advantage of the veteran or widow and have access to the pension money to spend at their discretion such as purchasing Depends or Ensure. Im sure that somewhere there is someone who absconded with funds they were not entitled to and did in fact take advantage of a veteran, but Im willing to wager a guess that most who are providing care for a loved one have spent the check out of their own pocket long before it is received. It is the lesser of two evils. On one hand you have the family member who is taking advantage of the veteran or widow by writing a check every month to the ALF or caregiver hoping they will have enough to pay it as credit cards are maxed out and all funds have been depleted while waiting to be approved as a fiduciary. On the other hand, you have the VA who wants to take months to arrange for a fiduciary to be appointed without much care as to how you will pay for everything pending their approval. In the meantime, if you must move your loved one to a lesser quality facility due to costs or arrange to bring them in-home and provide the care yourself, keep in mind the VA is only doing their job and protecting the veteran or widow. So, if the veteran is doing without essentials and is living in conditions that are not healthy or services being provided are not adequate even though they are entitled to the pension which would allow for better care and services, who is really taking advantage of the veteran? All of this protecting has created an opportunity for many individuals and companies to Carpe Diem Seize the Moment and many of these folks, but not all, have found a way to use filing for this pension as a revenue generator, and doing so under the guise of reaching out to veterans and their families at no cost for their assistance to make application, but it sure helps if mom and dad need someone to manage their investments and move them around so they will qualify for the pension from a financial standpoint. Seminars are being held daily nationwide at $500.00 a session to learn how you too can use this pension to recruit new business and increase your sales. Dont overlook the kids who are taking care of mom and dad, they will be so grateful for your assistance they will want you to manage their assets as well. While you are at it, sell some annuities. What most dont realize is that by moving things around to a trust or annuity can often mean that when mom or dad need that money to continue paying for their care, they wont have access to it. It will sit in that trust until they die and the beneficiaries get it. For those who are fortunate enough to have assets that need protecting, these services are valid, but for those who go into this situation strictly based on wanting to file for this pension, you need to educate yourself on whether this is truly in your best interest in the long run. Again, this frenzy of businesses using this pension to get in the hen house is largely due to the fact that the VA has created a need for these services due to the lack of information, the lack of trained employees well versed in Improved Pension, taking a simple application and turning it into more than it needs to be. If it was as originally designed a simple 4- page application based on meeting the need for assistance and financial guidelines, there would not be a need nor an opportunity for those who use this as a calling card. As a result, the VA has responded by now sending out an additional form to those who submit an application that they must sign stating that neither they nor the veteran have paid anyone for any type of assistance in completing the application. The application will not be processed until this form has been returned. So, in the name of protecting the veteran, which in my opinion translates to denying the veteran, there is yet another hurdle to jump through. Rather an unfair dynamic that the VA has its attorneys and council, but a veteran is not entitled to any representation upon making an initial application for any benefit or compensation. They are only entitled to representation if they are appealing a decision on their claim while the IRS wants to make sure you get it right the first time. Of the two, which do you think is more efficient? There are more of us that file income tax returns than there are veterans/widows filing for benefits, so how is it that the IRS can receive and process a higher volume of paper so seamlessly while the VA claims they never received the application even though you have a signed Registered Return Receipt proving that they did? If you posed the question of why the IRS created the EZ form while the VA took an easy form and turned it into 26 pages, it really is self-explanatory. One wants your money and the other hedges their bets they can keep their money. This mindset is nothing new. For insight as to how long this treatment and mentality has been permitted and promoted, one needs to look no further than what was done to the Bonus Army when our veterans marched into Washington in 1932 demanding what had been promised. Not much has changed in 77 years. Do yourself a favor and Google Bonus Army. Youll be enlightened to have done so. I know there are a lot of good, hardworking people at the VA and local offices who have the right intent, but they are only acting under the directives they have been given. What I want to know is who signs the memo authorizing these practices. When bonuses hinge on giving a veteran the lowest possible disability rating rather than the rating they deserve, Im hard pressed to believe that this qualifies as acting in the veterans best interest. Make no mistake here, there is a vested interest, but somewhere along the way the interest got shifted to self-serving. Like solving any other mystery follow the money. Until such time that the VA can get its house in order, I think the individuals who do nothing but help file for Improved Pension and have no hidden agenda or want to sell you anything, should have the right to provide the same assistance as your accountant does. Most of these well intended folks must stay behind closed doors for fear of retribution by the VA for actually helping a veteran make a correct application. The VA will argue that the veteran is entitled to assistance with filing for free, but when the SO of the office you walk into knows nothing about the pension, or says you dont qualify, when actually you do, free comes at a hefty price. Yes, these folks (the good ones) who work secretly behind the scenes helping veterans and their families should be able to charge a modest fee for their expertise and assistance, but the VA will never sanction anything of the likes, they have too much to lose. There would be too many applications to approve of with no reason to deny them. There are budgets to be justified, bonuses to be earned, and credits for getting a Service Organization assigned as Claimants Representative rather than the family member so that you cant call and inquire about the status of the claim. The SO isnt paying the monthly bill, so they wont have much motivation to follow up and press for a ruling or approval. And lastly, they are busy making sure that no one other than them can take advantage of a veteran or widow. The IRS has a few free months before it is tax season again. Maybe they can step in and show the VA how to get the job done. Better yet, instead of employees getting bonuses for the highest number of denied applications or lowest disability ratings given, how about an imposed penalty with incurring interest for any application that takes longer than 90 days to process!