Medical Expense Report and Statement in Support of Claim

[willow]

Have submitted initial application for Aid and Attendance.  They responded saying they could not use medical expenses before the initial application date, so apparently have to supply "projected" expenses for the coming year, but so many expenses are difficult to "project," such as doctor's visits, mileage, etc., because you don't know what the year will bring. 

Also, Statement in Support of Claim form was sent to us, and not sure how to fill that out. 

I would be most grateful for any insight on these issues that anyone might be willing to share. 

[kayellen]

   This is easy.

What I did and it was acceptable was:

 On my computer I submitted a Letterhead with my name address, telephone etc. and then made a statement that I agreed to supply the following services to my loved one(s) such as

 *  Safety & Security of Home & Surroundings
  *  House Cleaning
  *  Cooking & Grocery Shopping
  *  Transportation to All medical services
  *  Dressing, hygiene
  *  Monitoring of Diet & Medications
  *  etc....... just look at the list of information listed on the veteranaid guidance site for a list of services  At a cost of $2000.00 a month, which includes care for the spouse.   Walli -- that's it

sign & date and submit a billing for each month --- that's it

[pologal1979]

VA considers projected expenses such as private medical insurance, assisted living, nursing home fees, caregiver fees, depends/adult diapers. sometimes rx, if you have a doctors statement verifying the need for a specific drug etc,  it is best though that VA considers these big things and not otc drugs, mileage, various other things as VA does not want to overpay the claimant. 

what you should do is keep ALL of the medical related receipts that are incurred from the date the award is granted continuing. then if you are logging mileage, do that too. Then at the end of the year, the VA will send the medical expense report to you.  you can then list all the meds actually paid for the time period in question.  did your medical expense report come predated or is a date range in the letter? if so that is the date range you want to start keeping track for.

after that period is over, you submit all the meds paid to VA. they will not reimburse you for the medical expenses.  instead, what they do is use the total amount of allowable meds to reduce a persons income for va purposes. this gives the claimant entitlenent to a higher rate of benefits.  this is called a retroactive adjustment.   then you may get a check in the mail with a letter regarding the adjusted rates.

as far as the statement in support of claim - read your letter VERY carefully. Is the form mentioned ANYWHERE in the letter? does VA want you or is allowing you the opportunity to clarify something?  if so, you can respond with the statement form.  if not and you have nothing else to add or make a correction to something stated in the letter then you can disregard the form at this time.  i would keep it tho. you can always use it in the future to report any changes etc. 

[MJ]

On my computer I submitted a Letterhead with my name address, telephone etc. and then made a statement that I agreed to supply the following services to my loved one(s) such as
(Willow... great idea here but can you tell us exactly where this list of information is listed on the veteranaid guidance site?)
 *  Safety & Security of Home & Surroundings
  *  House Cleaning
  *  Cooking & Grocery Shopping
  *  Transportation to All medical services
  *  Dressing, hygiene
  *  Monitoring of Diet & Medications
  *  etc....... just look at the list of information listed on the veteranaid guidance site for a list of services  At a cost of $2000.00 a month, which includes care for the spouse.   Walli -- that's it

sign & date and submit a billing for each month --- that's it

[jpez]

MJ,
willow has created a CARE contract.
you agree to provide services for a year.
you bill the vet a flat amount each month
you DO NOT have to send the paid bills to VA. But you have to keep them and MAKE sure they are actually paid each month.

[Max]

Have submitted initial application for Aid and Attendance.  They responded saying they could not use medical expenses before the initial application date, so apparently have to supply "projected" expenses for the coming year, but so many expenses are difficult to "project," such as doctor's visits, mileage, etc., because you don't know what the year will bring. 

Also, Statement in Support of Claim form was sent to us, and not sure how to fill that out. 

I would be most grateful for any insight on these issues that anyone might be willing to share. 

At this point, unless you have assisted living expenses or nursing home expenses, I would suggest to keep a good ledger of expenses after whatever your date of claim is.  You might get denied the first time around, but then just submit your expenses later and VA and reopen your claim and you can get a big retro!  private message me with questions:)