Veteran seniors and their families filled the Manor House conference room at Edenton Retirement Community in Frederick, coming to hear two men speak about a benefit unknown to many people  — a benefit the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs created in 1951 to assist veterans and their spouses over the age of 65 with paying for assisted living services.

It’s called the Non-Service Connected Disability Improved Pension Benefit with Aid and Attendance, or Aid and Attendance for short.

“Nearly two-million veterans or their widows are likely missing out on as much as $22 billion a year,” said Mike Ausherman, 31, of Mission Veteran Assistance.

Ausherman and his business partner Todd Baker, 35, created Mission Veteran Assistance in 2007 after helping Baker’s grandfather — a veteran suffering from Parkinson’s — navigate through his VA benefits. It was that experience that led the pair to the Aid and Attendance benefit.

Navigating through the paperwork and requirements for VA benefits can be a daunting task. Ausherman held up a VA handbook, showing that the Aid and Attendance benefit was covered, but on one page that is difficult to locate. Edenton resident Beverly Kriegh worked at the VA, and she agreed whole-heartedly with Ausherman. Kriegh likes to come to these presentations, “to see what information we need.”

Ausherman and Baker take three to four days a month away from Legacy Capital Planners, LLC — a financial planning firm they have owned together for 11 years — to assist veterans and their families in finding out if they qualify for the benefit, at no cost.

“This is our public service,” Ausherman said.

To be eligible for the benefit, the individual must be at least age 65 and the veteran must have served at least 90 days in any branch of the military, with at least one of those days served during a declared conflict. 

There are also financial and physical criteria the individual must meet in order to qualify for the benefit. When questioned whether a healthy individual who meets all of the other requirements could qualify, Ausherman responded, “Someone who doesn’t have any health problems, it would be hard to make a case for aid and assistance.” However, he said individuals who are living independently may qualify if a doctor recommends that assistance in needed in the home.

A veteran can receive up to $1,949 per month and an eligible widow up to $1,056 per month from the benefit. According to Ausherman and Baker, only one in seven eligible widows are obtaining the benefit. “For the spouse, getting money from the VA is almost the equivalent of having the use of nearly a half million dollars,” said Ausherman.

Arlene Smith of Frederick is looking for ways to help with the cost of care for her parents. Smith is trying to convince her father, a 94-year-old veteran of World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars, and her mother who is 86, to go into assisted living. “My parents are elderly and fighting going into assisted living,” she said.

For more information about Mission Veteran Assistance, call 301-685-6616 or visit www.MissionVA.org