Virginia VA Aid & Attendance

VA Aid and Attendance is a federal pension add-on — it isn't a Virginia Medicaid waiver, and it isn't a Virginia nursing-facility benefit in its own right. The VA states plainly that Aid and Attendance and Housebound benefits can't both be received at the same time, and a veteran or surviving spouse should get current eligibility and payment guidance straight from the federal VA rather than treating a Virginia Medicaid approval as if it were a VA determination (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Aid and Attendance).

For the Virginia Medicaid side specifically, the process still starts with the state's LTSS screening and financial review. DMAS evaluates income and resources for LTSS and can require patient pay, but this research didn't locate a universal Virginia rule that automatically excludes every Aid and Attendance payment from Medicaid income. A veteran should have the eligibility worker apply the current income policy directly to the actual VA award notice rather than assume a blanket exclusion (Cover Virginia LTSS overview; DMAS Chapter M14).

Virginia also runs four state veterans care centers and offers a principal-residence real-estate tax exemption for qualifying totally disabled veterans — separate benefits worth knowing about alongside the federal VA pension.