What are Aid, Attendance, and Housebound benefits?

Aid & Attendance

Aid and Attendance (A&A) is a benefit paid in addition to monthly pension. This benefit may not be paid without eligibility to pension. A veteran may be eligible for A&A when they meet one of the following criteria:

  • The veteran requires the aid of another person in order to perform personal functions required in everyday living, such as bathing, feeding, dressing, attending to the wants of nature, adjusting prosthetic devices, or protecting himself/herself from the hazards of his/her daily environment
  • The veteran is bedridden, in that his/her disability or disabilities requires that he/she remain in bed apart from any prescribed course of convalescence or treatment
  • The veteran is a patient in a nursing home due to mental or physical incapacity
  • The veteran is blind, or so nearly blind as to have corrected visual acuity of 5/200 or less, in both eyes, or concentric contraction of the visual field to 5 degrees or less

Housebound

Housebound is paid in addition to monthly pension. Like A&A, Housebound benefits may not be paid without eligibility to pension. A veteran may be eligible for Housebound benefits when either:

  • The veteran has a single permanent disability evaluated as 100% disabling and, due to such disability, he/she is permanently and substantially confined to his/her immediate premises
  • The veteran has a single permanent disability evaluated as 100% disabling and, another disability, or disabilities, evaluated as 60% or more disabling

A veteran cannot receive both A&A and Housebound benefits at the same time.

Show All Answers

1. How Does Veterans Affairs calculate your pension?
2. What is countable income for veterans pension eligibility purposes?
3. What are Aid, Attendance, and Housebound benefits?
4. What about net worth?