VA Aid and Attendance raises the most a VA pension can pay a wartime veteran with no dependents to $29,093 a year, and in-home care costs in Arizona can raise how much of it is paid. It is paid to the veteran as part of the monthly pension. And care from family doesn't rule it out: VA's regulation says a relative or household member providing the aid and attendance will not prevent the allowance from being granted. For a wartime veteran or surviving spouse who needs help with daily activities, that can make staying at home more affordable.

This guide explains what in-home care costs in Arizona, how much Aid and Attendance pays, who qualifies, and how the benefit works alongside Arizona's Medicaid long-term care program.

In This Guide

How Much In-Home Care Costs in Arizona

In-home care is a significant expense, and in Arizona it runs above the national line. According to the CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey (fielded July through November 2025 and released March 2, 2026), the Arizona median for a non-medical caregiver is $38 per hour, which the survey annualizes at 44 hours a week for 52 weeks to $86,944 per year, against a national median of $80,080 ($35 per hour). That puts Arizona 17th highest of the 50 states ranked in that category. The 2025 survey merged the former homemaker and home health aide categories into a single non-medical caregiver category, so this figure isn't comparable with earlier years' in-home numbers.

Arizona's facility costs are mixed against the national medians: a semi-private nursing home room runs well below the national figure, a private nursing home room runs above it, and assisted living is roughly level with it. These are industry-survey medians, not government figures, and CareScout cautions that the cost of care can vary widely depending on where care is delivered, the type of services needed, and the level of support required.

How Aid and Attendance Helps Pay for In-Home Care in Arizona

Aid and Attendance is an increased monthly payment added to a VA pension, for wartime veterans who need help with daily activities; surviving spouses can get it through the Survivors Pension., It is paid to the veteran as part of the monthly pension.

Category Maximum annual rate
Veteran, no dependents $29,093
Veteran with one dependent $34,488
Surviving spouse, no dependents $18,697

The VA publishes these as annual amounts. Under VA's regulations, the monthly payment is worked out from them: the rate above minus your countable income, divided by 12, and rounded down to the whole dollar. Read the figures as a ceiling rather than a payment: the Maximum Annual Pension Rate is the most the pension can pay, and the VA bases the actual award on the difference between your income for VA purposes and that limit. A veteran with countable income left after medical expenses are deducted receives less than the full amount.

Even at the top of the range, the $29,093 annual ceiling for a veteran with no dependents sits well below Arizona's roughly $86,944 median annual cost for in-home care., That $86,944 is the survey's median at 44 hours a week, about $38 an hour, so fewer hours means a smaller bill.

How In-Home Care Costs Lower Your Countable Income

VA pension, including the Aid and Attendance increase, is a needs-based benefit: to be eligible, your yearly family income and net worth have to meet limits set by Congress. Out-of-pocket care costs, such as paying a home health aide, can count as unreimbursed medical expenses (UMEs) that reduce the income the VA counts, so a veteran whose income looks too high on paper can still qualify once qualifying care costs are subtracted.

Only the portion of those expenses above 5% of the applicable maximum annual pension rate is deductible, counting the increase for family members but not the increase for aid and attendance or being housebound. For 2026 the VA puts that floor at $872 per year for a veteran with no spouse or child, and it rises for a veteran with dependents.

In-home care has its own rule in the VA's regulation. Payments to an in-home attendant for help with daily activities are medical expenses as long as the attendant provides health care or custodial care, and the payments must be commensurate with the number of hours the attendant actually attends to the person. The attendant has to be a health care provider unless one of two things is true: the veteran needs aid and attendance or is housebound, or a physician, physician assistant, certified nurse practitioner, or clinical nurse specialist states in writing that, because of a physical, mental, developmental, or cognitive disorder, the veteran requires the health care or custodial care the in-home attendant provides.

Run the arithmetic and the effect is large: if a veteran pays $86,944 a year for qualifying in-home care, nearly all of it comes off countable income once the first $872 is set aside (the floor for a veteran with no spouse or child).

Who Qualifies

To qualify for Aid and Attendance, a veteran must not have received a dishonorable discharge, and generally must meet all four of these:

  • Wartime service, with a length test keyed to when active duty started. The VA lists three paths, and meeting any one of them satisfies the test. A veteran who started active duty before September 8, 1980 needs at least 90 days of active duty with at least one day during a wartime period. A veteran who started active duty as an enlisted person after September 7, 1980 generally needs at least 24 months (with some exceptions), or the full period for which they were called or ordered to active duty, again with at least one day during wartime. A veteran who started active duty as an officer after October 16, 1981 qualifies if they had not previously served on active duty for at least 24 months, again with at least one day during wartime.
  • Meet at least one of the VA's four age-or-disability branches: be 65 or older; have a permanent and total disability; be a patient in a nursing home for long-term care because of a disability; or be getting Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income. Any one of the four is enough, so a wartime veteran under 65 who receives SSI meets this test without a permanent and total disability finding.
  • Meet the VA's need-for-aid-and-attendance test. Any one of these does it: needing another person's help on a regular basis with activities such as dressing and undressing, keeping clean and presentable, feeding yourself, or attending to the wants of nature, or needing care or assistance regularly to stay safe from the hazards of daily life; being bedridden; being a patient in a nursing home because of a loss of mental or physical abilities related to a disability; or eyesight of 5/200 or less in both eyes, or a visual field contracted to 5 degrees or less.
  • Have a net worth below $163,699, which counts the claimant's and dependents' assets and income for VA purposes; assets exclude the primary residence, the car, and basic home items like appliances

The VA enforces a 3-year look-back on assets transferred for less than fair market value before filing, and a transfer that would have pushed net worth over the limit can trigger a penalty period of up to five years. A surviving spouse can qualify under the Survivors Pension using the same net worth limit.

Using Aid and Attendance to Pay a Family Caregiver for In-Home Care in Arizona

Many families want to keep care in the family, and there are two routes worth knowing. The first is Aid and Attendance itself. VA's regulation says a relative or another household member performing the aid and attendance will not prevent the allowance from being granted. When the veteran needs aid and attendance, payments to an in-home attendant can count as medical expenses even if the attendant isn't a health care provider, as long as the payments match the hours of care actually given. Before you count on paying a particular relative, confirm how that affects your claim with an accredited Veteran Benefits Counselor at the Arizona Department of Veterans' Services.

The second is Veteran-Directed Care (VDC), a VA Geriatrics and Extended Care program for home and community based services. It gives enrolled veterans a flexible budget, managed by the veteran or their representative, to hire and supervise their own workers so they can keep living at home or in their community. Through that budget, veterans may also hire family, friends, and neighbors to provide services. Enrolled veterans are eligible if they are eligible for community care, meet the clinical criteria for the service, and it is available where they live. VA medical centers deliver VDC through local aging and disability network agencies, such as area agencies on aging, where an options counselor handles the assessment and care plan, arranges fiscal management services, and provides ongoing support. To ask about VDC, start with your local VA medical center.

How Aid and Attendance Works with Arizona Medicaid

Aid and Attendance and Arizona's Medicaid long-term care program interact through income rules, and a veteran can use both. Arizona delivers Medicaid long-term care through the Arizona Long Term Care System (ALTCS), administered by AHCCCS. AHCCCS counts a VA pension as unearned income for ALTCS eligibility, but excludes the Aid and Attendance and Housebound allowances, along with any increase for unusual medical expenses, so the Aid and Attendance portion is not counted as income for that test.

Once a person is on ALTCS, certain deductions are subtracted from their counted income to determine the Share of Cost. Because the interaction between VA benefits and ALTCS eligibility and cost-sharing is fact-specific, confirm your situation with AHCCCS/ALTCS or an accredited Veteran Benefits Counselor.

How to Apply and Get Free Help

To apply for Aid and Attendance, submit VA Form 21-2680 (Examination for Housebound Status or Permanent Need for Regular Aid and Attendance), whose examination section a medical examiner fills out to document the need for help. That form covers Aid and Attendance added to your monthly compensation or pension benefits, so it is the same form whether you receive VA disability compensation or a VA pension. The route described here is the pension route, the one this guide covers: the VA's condition is that you may be eligible for this benefit if you get a VA pension. A wartime veteran pursuing that route who is not already receiving a VA pension also files VA Form 21P-527EZ (Application for Veterans Pension), the means-tested wartime pension application. Asked how long a decision takes, the VA's answer is "It depends." It works through claims in the order it receives them, unless a claim requires priority processing.

Don't do this alone. The Arizona Department of Veterans' Services runs a network of Veteran Benefits Counselors, all accredited by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the American Legion, who help veterans, dependents, and survivors prepare and submit VA pension applications at no cost. They work remotely across Arizona and in each of the Arizona State Veteran Homes in Flagstaff, Phoenix, Tucson, and Yuma, and they meet clients in person, virtually, over the phone, or by email. You can reach the appointment line at (602) 535-1215 or book online through Calendly, the appointment system the department launched in January 2024.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use Aid and Attendance to pay for a home health aide in Arizona?

Aid and Attendance is paid to the veteran as part of the monthly pension, and payments to a home health aide can count as unreimbursed medical expenses that lower the income the VA counts, which can raise the pension paid. With in-home care in Arizona running about $86,944 a year, even the Aid and Attendance ceiling of $29,093 a year ($34,488 with one dependent) falls well short of the median cost, and the VA pays less than the ceiling to anyone with countable income.,

Who receives the Aid and Attendance payment?

The veteran does. VA describes Aid and Attendance as monthly payments added to the amount of a monthly VA pension, and the Veterans Pension provides monthly payments to wartime veterans. If you'd rather have VA fund hired help through a program, ask your local VA medical center about Veteran-Directed Care, which gives enrolled veterans a flexible budget to hire their own workers.

Can my income be too high to qualify if I'm paying for care?

Often not. Out-of-pocket in-home care counts as an unreimbursed medical expense that lowers the income the VA counts, but only the portion above $872 a year for a veteran with no spouse or child, more for a veteran with dependents, is deductible. Large care bills can reduce countable income enough to qualify.

Can I get both Aid and Attendance and Arizona Medicaid?

Yes. Arizona's Medicaid eligibility manual has rules for veterans on ALTCS who also get VA benefits: AHCCCS counts a VA pension as unearned income but excludes the Aid and Attendance allowance. Because ALTCS eligibility and cost-sharing are fact-specific, confirm your situation with AHCCCS/ALTCS or an accredited Veteran Benefits Counselor.

Compare Care Settings in Arizona

VA's medical-expense rules for pension claimants differ by care setting. See how it works for the others:

Learn More

VA BenefitsVA Aid and Attendance in ArizonaVA Aid and Attendance in Arizona for 2026: who qualifies, pension rates up to $34,488 a year, how to apply, and free help from ADVS Veteran Benefit Counselors. VA BenefitsVA Benefits for Senior Care in ArizonaA complete guide to VA senior care benefits in Arizona: home care, nursing homes, Aid and Attendance, state veteran homes, and how to access them in 2026. Care TypesHome Care vs Home Health in ArizonaHome care vs. home health in Arizona: home health is skilled care Medicare covers; home care is non-medical help it won't, paid privately or by ALTCS. VA BenefitsHow VA Aid and Attendance Pays for Assisted LivingHow VA Aid and Attendance helps pay for assisted living: the 2026 annual pension limits, the medical-expense rule, who qualifies, and how to apply. VA BenefitsVA Benefits for Senior Care: A Complete GuideA complete guide to VA benefits for senior care: long-term care, Aid and Attendance, pensions, DIC, and home grants for older veterans and surviving spouses.
Your next step Find personalized help using VA benefits to pay for in-home care in Arizona at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.

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