Veterans Benefits and Home Care

Along with other long-established Veteran's Administration benefits, home health-care services are offered for homebound veterans with chronic diseases or service-connected disabilities. A relatively new home health-care service adds a twist to home care by offering a Community Residential Care Program for veterans unable to live independently in their own homes. Instead of the caregiver making visits to the veterans' homes, under Medical Foster Home (MFH) care, the veteran lives in the home of the caregiver.

History of VA Home Care Programs

• Home-care medical services for veterans have long been a part of VA benefits. The MFH program started as a pilot program in Little Rock, Arkansas. According to information provided by a VA MFH National Program Coordinator, those programs were so successful the VA is currently developing 67 MFH programs in 36 states.

Features of Home Care and MFH

• Home health-care workers--such as nursing professionals, health aides and therapists--come to a veteran's home and provide the short-term services of a hospital or nursing home, often on an as-needed basis. Other health-care alternatives must be exhausted first before the home service becomes available. The MFH begins with the coordinator matching a caregiver living in the community who is willing to provide long-term nursing and personal assistance to veterans who are eligible for nursing-home care. Once the veteran is established in the caregiver's home, he receives room, board, physical, social and emotional care, just as any other member of the family.

Benefits of the Plans

• Home health-care services give priority to veterans with 50 percent or more service-connected disability. The VA pays for all or part of the service when money is available to do so. Any veteran willing to purchase the services may also do so. A veteran living in an MFH pays the caregiver between $1,500 and $3,000 a month (depending on his condition) and receives personal care and a lifelong home with a family. MFH costs are about half that of a nursing home and lacks an institutionalized setting. This type of arrangement saves the VA money, helps the veteran physically and emotionally and puts money back into the community.

Caregiver Oversight and Training

• A third of the veterans receiving purchased home health care are contacted to make sure they are receiving the services they pay for. Staff from either the Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) or the Spinal Cord Injury Home Care (SCI-HC) Program makes unannounced home-assessment visits and provides caregiver education and patient-care training for the MFH Program.

To Learn More

• To learn more about home health-care benefits and other community services for veterans, contact your nearest VA Medical Center and ask for the social work, home-based primary care, or community residential care office. Email Aida Fonseca, NSW, LCSW ([email protected]) or Dan Goedken, MSSW, LICSW ([email protected]) with additional questions or to express interest in becoming a Medical Foster Home caregiver.