VA Pension With Aid and Attendance or Housebound: Who Qualifies

Disability compensation pays for conditions caused by service. It has no income or asset limit. Its own aid and attendance level, SMC-L, is covered in our separate article.

Pension is different. It does not require a service-connected condition. It is for wartime Veterans with low income and limited assets. VA pays only one award based on your own service, so you get compensation or pension, not both (38 CFR 3.700).

You must not have a dishonorable discharge. You also need one of these:

• You started active duty before September 8, 1980, served at least 90 days, and had at least 1 day during a wartime period.
• You enlisted after September 7, 1980, served at least 24 months or your full call-up period, with at least 1 wartime day.
• You were an officer who started active duty after October 16, 1981, and had not already served 24 months.

• World War II: December 7, 1941, to December 31, 1946
• Korean conflict: June 27, 1950, to January 31, 1955
• Vietnam War era, served in the Republic of Vietnam: November 1, 1955, to May 7, 1975
• Vietnam War era, served elsewhere: August 5, 1964, to May 7, 1975
• Gulf War: August 2, 1990, to a future date not yet set by law
• Earlier periods also count: the Mexican Border period and World War I

You also need at least one of these:

• You are 65 or older.
• You have a permanent and total disability.
• You live in a nursing home for long-term care because of a disability.
• You get Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

These are higher pension levels. You must qualify for pension first. You can get one or the other, not both.

Aid and Attendance fits if you need another person's help with daily tasks like bathing, eating or dressing. It also fits if illness keeps you in bed much of the day, or a disability puts you in a nursing home. Very limited eyesight counts too: 5/200 or less in both eyes, or a visual field of 5 degrees or less.

Housebound fits if a permanent disability keeps you at home most of the time. It can also fit if you have one permanent disability rated 100% plus other disabilities rated 60% or more (38 CFR 3.351(d)).

VA calls the yearly limit the Maximum Annual Pension Rate, or MAPR. Your pension is the MAPR minus your countable income, paid monthly. These are the limits through November 30, 2026:

• Veteran alone, basic pension: $17,441 a year
• Veteran alone, Housebound: $21,313 a year (about $1,776 a month)
• Veteran alone, Aid and Attendance: $29,093 a year (about $2,424 a month)
• Veteran with 1 dependent, Housebound: $26,710 a year
• Veteran with 1 dependent, Aid and Attendance: $34,488 a year (about $2,874 a month)
• Each added dependent: add $2,984 a year
• Two Veterans married to each other, both needing Aid and Attendance: $46,143 a year

Medical costs you pay yourself, and that are not repaid by insurance, can be subtracted from your income. You can subtract only the part above 5% of your basic MAPR. That is $872 a year for a Veteran alone and $1,141 for a Veteran with 1 dependent.

Countable costs can include in-home attendants, assisted living care and nursing home costs. Health insurance premiums count too, including Medicare Parts A, B and D (38 CFR 3.278). If you are rated for Aid and Attendance or Housebound, an in-home attendant does not have to be licensed. Assisted living room and board can count when the facility provides or contracts for your care.

A simple example: a Veteran alone rated for Aid and Attendance has $24,000 a year in Social Security. They pay $12,000 a year for in-home care. VA subtracts $11,128 ($12,000 minus $872). Countable income is $12,872. Pension is $29,093 minus $12,872, or $16,221 a year (about $1,352 a month).

Net worth is your assets plus your yearly income (38 CFR 3.274). It includes your spouse's. From December 1, 2025, through November 30, 2026, the limit is $163,699. If you are over it, VA denies pension.

Your home and a lot of up to 2 acres do not count. Neither do your car, appliances and personal effects (38 CFR 3.275). Your home still does not count if you move to a nursing home or other care setting. Deductible medical costs reduce the income part of net worth.

VA looks back 36 months before it receives your pension claim (38 CFR 3.276). It checks whether you gave away assets or sold them for less than they were worth. If those assets would have put you over the limit, VA can delay pension.

The penalty is the amount over the limit divided by a monthly rate. For claims under the current rates, that rate is $2,874 ($34,488 divided by 12). For example, $57,480 transferred over the limit means 20 months with no pension. The penalty cannot be more than 5 years. Getting the assets back can reduce or end it if you act within VA's deadlines.

• VA Form 21P-527EZ: the Veterans pension application.
• VA Form 21-2680: a medical examiner completes the exam section to show the need for Aid and Attendance or Housebound status.
• VA Form 21-0779: needed if you live in a nursing home. A nursing home official completes it.
• VA Form 21P-8416: reports unreimbursed medical expenses. VA Form 21P-0969 reports income and assets when VA asks.
• File an intent to file (VA Form 21-0966) first, or apply online while signed in, to protect an earlier start date.
• Mail paper forms to: Department of Veterans Affairs, Pension Intake Center, PO Box 5365, Janesville, WI 53547-5365.

VA raises the MAPR and the net worth limit each December 1 with the Social Security cost-of-living increase. VA had not published rates effective December 1, 2026, when this article was checked. Use VA's current tables before you rely on a number.

A new pension claim is an initial claim, so a Veterans Service Organization (VSO) can help you file it for free. ClaimScope's paid reviews focus on VA compensation decisions, including whether your records support SMC-L after VA has decided your claim. General information, not legal advice.