Do VA Aid and Attendance Benefits Count as Income?

Usually, the Aid and Attendance benefit is not countable income for the purposes of eligibility for Medicaid community benefits. However, if a single VA Aid and Attendance recipient enters a nursing home, the VA will reduce the monthly benefit to $90.

The nursing home resident can keep that in addition to his or her personal monthly needs allowance. Some Medicaid caseworkers will only exclude the Aid and Attendance portion of the benefit and count the base pension as income. Social Security benefits are counted as income for Medicaid eligibility purposes.

For more information on how Medicaid treats income, check out this article.