My friend’s husband was a veteran and now has moderate Alzheimer’s. My friend says they were discouraged from applying for benefits because of long waiting lists. His isn’t a service related issue and they are all backed up with Veteran’s requests who had served in recent wars. Can anyone suggest a way he could at least get a home health aide from the VA? A long waiting list means he will be dead before getting any benefits.
Any benefit would be retroactive to the date of the application.
The classifications of "service connected disability" change all the time.
Your friend should contact the local Veterans Assistance Commission. Every County has at least 1 office. They can help determine what benefits he may qualify for. And even if there is not a% of disability attached there are programs that may help. My Husband was not diagnosed with a service connected disability but the VA programs helped a LOT. He was in Day Care for a while, there were other programs I found after he got "kicked out" of Day Care.
It is ALWAYS worth looking into.
OH...and there is a good possibility that SHE can get paid to care for him. This is a change in the past 5 -6 years.
How old is he? They will speed up the process if a person is at an advanced age.
Has he contacted Council on Aging in his area? They will do a needs assessment. If he qualifies he will receive help for a certain amount of hours per month.
C on A will do light housekeeping, prepare and serve meals, help bathe a person, et. They will also have a waiting list so do it as soon as possible.
I hope that he receives help soon.