If you are arranging memory care for a parent who served, VA Aid and Attendance can put real money toward the monthly bill. It is an increased monthly pension the VA pays a qualifying veteran or survivor who needs help with daily activities, and it is one of the most useful ways to help cover memory care in Delaware.

This guide walks through what Delaware memory care costs, how Aid and Attendance helps cover it, why a dementia diagnosis often meets the VA's care criteria, and how to apply for free with help from Delaware's state Veteran Service Officers.

In This Guide

How Much Memory Care Costs in Delaware

Delaware does not issue a stand-alone memory-care license. Dementia care is delivered within the state's assisted-living and nursing-home frameworks, including secured memory-care units, under Title 16 of the Delaware Administrative Code. Because of that, there is no single "memory care" price tag published for the state; the cost depends on whether the care is provided in an assisted-living setting or a nursing home.

What we can anchor to is Delaware's long-term care pricing, which runs above the national medians in every residential setting. According to the CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey (rates gathered July through November 2025, published March 2026), an assisted living community in Delaware runs a median $91,200 a year, about $7,600 a month, the 11th highest of the 50 states, against a national median of $74,400 a year (about $6,200 a month). Nursing-home care in Delaware is among the most expensive in the country: a semi-private room runs about $173,922 a year (roughly $14,494 a month), 6th highest, and a private room about $181,588 (roughly $15,132 a month), 9th highest. Because memory care is delivered inside one of those two settings with added dementia staffing and training, treat the $7,600 assisted-living median as a floor rather than the full price, and get the specific community's fee schedule before you budget. These are industry-survey medians, not government figures, and costs vary within the state and rise as care needs grow.

Because Delaware regulates dementia care under a disclosure law in Title 6 of the Delaware Code, Chapter 25K, any facility that markets Alzheimer's or dementia care must give you a written disclosure covering its care philosophy, staffing and dementia-care training, and a complete fee schedule. Ask for that disclosure early; the fee schedule is the clearest picture you will get of what a specific setting will charge.

How Aid and Attendance Helps Pay for Memory Care in Delaware

Aid and Attendance is not a separate program you apply to on its own. It is an increased rate of a veteran's or survivor's monthly VA pension when they need help with daily activities, are bedridden, are in a nursing home due to disability, or have severely limited eyesight. That extra money can be applied directly to a memory-care bill.

Here is what the maximum monthly pension looks like in 2026 for someone who qualifies for Aid and Attendance, with rates effective December 1, 2025 through November 30, 2026.

Who is applying 2026 maximum monthly pension
Veteran (no dependents) $2,424
Veteran with one dependent $2,874
Surviving spouse $1,558

The VA sets these maximums as annual amounts, effective December 1, 2025 through November 30, 2026 ($29,093 for a veteran with no dependents, $34,488 with one dependent, and $18,697 for a surviving spouse), and the monthly figures above are the yearly award divided by 12. Each figure is a ceiling on the pension, not the check itself. The VA pays the difference between a household's income for VA purposes and the rate that applies, so a veteran with countable income remaining after deductions is paid the gap rather than the full amount. That is what makes the deductions worth chasing: unreimbursed medical expenses come off countable income first, and for a resident in memory care the community's monthly fee is usually the biggest one on the list. Against a Delaware memory-care bill that starts around the state's $7,600 assisted-living median and climbs from there, even a partial benefit is meaningful.

Why Veterans With Dementia Often Qualify

One of the VA's pathways to Aid and Attendance is needing help with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, feeding yourself, adjusting prosthetic devices, or protecting yourself from everyday hazards. A veteran with Alzheimer's or another dementia frequently meets this standard, because the disease commonly leaves a person unable to manage those activities safely on their own or unable to recognize hazards around them.

The VA also recognizes being a patient in a nursing home due to mental or physical incapacity as a qualifying basis for the allowance. The need for assistance is documented by a medical examiner on VA Form 21-2680, so a clear medical record of the dementia and the help it requires is what supports the claim.

How Memory Care Costs Lower Your Countable Income

This is the part that surprises many families. VA pension is keyed to countable income, and you can lower that income by deducting unreimbursed medical expenses (UMEs), but only the portion of those expenses that exceeds 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 housebound status. For 2026, that annual floor is $872 for a veteran with no spouse or child, and it rises for a veteran with dependents.

What counts as a medical expense is set by regulation, and the conditions differ by setting. Delaware delivers dementia care inside either an assisted-living residence or a nursing home, and the two are treated differently. Payments to a nursing home, including the meals and lodging it charges, are medical expenses outright. For a care facility other than a nursing home, which is the branch that covers assisted living, fees are deductible on that branch's own conditions: payments for health care from a health care provider count, and payments for help with daily activities count even when the provider is not a health care provider, so long as the resident is receiving health care or custodial care in the facility and either needs aid and attendance or is housebound, or a physician, physician assistant, certified nurse practitioner, or clinical nurse specialist states in writing that a physical, mental, developmental, or cognitive disorder means the person needs to be in a protected environment. The meals-and-lodging part of an assisted-living bill has its own gate, and the facility itself must be licensed where Delaware requires a license and, if residential, staffed 24 hours a day with care providers. So the whole invoice is not automatically deductible; each part becomes deductible once these conditions are documented, which is worth walking through with a Veteran Service Officer.

Here is why it matters anyway. Delaware's median assisted-living bill is about $7,600 a month, roughly $91,200 a year, and a secured memory-care setting sits at or above that. Set against an $872 annual floor, any care cost the VA does allow as an unreimbursed medical expense will clear that floor many times over, which can reduce or zero out the income the VA counts. That is why a veteran whose income first looks too high can still be worth an application once large, recurring care costs are counted.

Do You or Your Parent Meet the Eligibility Rules?

These requirements exist to define who is eligible, not to screen families out, and the financial thresholds are more forgiving than they first look once care costs are deducted. Beyond the need for care, Aid and Attendance has service, age, and financial requirements:

  • Qualifying service. The service requirement is keyed to when the veteran entered active duty, not to which war they served in. Someone who started active duty before September 8, 1980 needs at least 90 days of active duty with at least one day during a recognized wartime period (for example WWII, Korea, Vietnam, or the Gulf War). Someone who started active duty as an enlisted person after September 7, 1980 generally needs at least 24 months, or the full period for which they were called or ordered to active duty, again with at least one day during wartime. A third branch covers an officer who started active duty after October 16, 1981 and had not previously served on active duty for at least 24 months.
  • Discharge, age, or disability. The veteran must not have received a dishonorable discharge, and must meet at least one of four alternatives: be at least 65 years old; 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. Age and a permanent-and-total rating are not the only routes: the nursing-home and SSDI/SSI branches stand on their own, so a wartime veteran under 65 who receives SSI meets this test without any adjudicated rating.
  • Net worth. Total net worth must be under $163,699 for 2026. This limit includes assets and annual income but excludes the primary residence, the car, and basic home items.
  • Three-year look-back. The VA reviews assets transferred for less than fair market value in the three years before filing, and a penalty period can apply to transfers that fall under the rule.

How Aid and Attendance Works with Delaware Medicaid for Memory Care

Many families use Aid and Attendance for a while and later turn to long-term care Medicaid, whose treatment of VA money is spelled out in Delaware's Administrative Code, Title 16, chapter 20000 (Medicaid Long Term Care), published under the Department of Health and Social Services. How the VA money is treated matters at that point.

That chapter counts a VA pension as unearned income, but handles the Aid and Attendance and Housebound allowances differently: "These allowances do not meet the definition of income because they are assistance for medical and social services," and "The payments are not included in the post eligibility calculation."

In Delaware, then, the allowance is left out at both steps: it is not counted as income when the state decides whether your parent qualifies, and it is not added into the post-eligibility calculation that sets their liability toward the cost of care. The chapter also says "Aid and Attendance payments may be used for whatever purpose the veteran wishes without penalty," and that "The veteran is free to make this income available to the community spouse."

Income rules and limits change, and these are general rules rather than a determination for any one person. Confirm your specific situation with Delaware Medicaid and a veterans service officer before relying on it.

How to Apply and Get Free Help

Every Aid and Attendance claim starts with VA Form 21-2680 (Examination for Housebound Status or Permanent Need for Regular Aid and Attendance), whose examination information section a medical examiner must fill out to document the need for assistance. The VA describes that form as the way to apply for Aid and Attendance benefits "that will be added to your monthly compensation or pension benefits," so it serves two routes: a veteran already receiving VA disability compensation uses it on the compensation side, and the steps here describe the pension route, where the VA's condition is "You may be eligible for this benefit if you get a VA pension." On the pension route, a wartime veteran who is not already receiving VA pension also files a pension claim on VA Form 21P-527EZ (Application for Veterans Pension). If you are still gathering information, you can submit VA Form 21-0966 (Intent to File) first, because the VA says "Submitting an intent to file can secure the earliest possible effective date for any retroactive payments you may be eligible to receive." You can apply online at VA.gov, by mail to the VA Pension Intake Center, or in person at a VA regional office, and an accredited attorney, accredited claims agent, or accredited Veterans Service Organization representative can help you file. Asked how long a decision takes, the VA answers "It depends," and adds that it processes claims in the order it receives them unless a claim requires priority processing, so file as soon as the medical need is documented.

You do not have to do this alone, and you should not pay anyone to file. Delaware veterans can get free help from Veteran Service Officers at the Delaware Office of Veterans Services, who are State of Delaware employees trained and accredited by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. An accredited Veteran Service Officer never charges for claims services. You can reach the office at (302) 739-2792 to schedule an appointment with your county service officer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a dementia diagnosis automatically qualify a veteran for Aid and Attendance?

Not automatically, but it often does in practice. The VA looks for a need for help with daily activities (like bathing, dressing, or protecting yourself from hazards) and dementia commonly creates that need. A medical examiner documents the specific need on VA Form 21-2680, which is what supports the claim.

Can Aid and Attendance be used for memory care, or only nursing homes?

It can be used for memory care. The benefit is paid as money to the veteran or survivor, who is free to apply it to a memory-care bill. Separately, unreimbursed medical expenses reduce the income the VA counts; how much of a memory-care community's fee the VA will allow depends on the care being provided and the documentation it asks for, so ask a Veteran Service Officer to review the invoice.

My parent's income seems too high. Should we still apply?

Often, yes. VA pension is needs-based, and unreimbursed medical expenses can be deducted from countable income once they exceed the annual floor of $872 for a veteran with no spouse or child, which is higher for a veteran with dependents. How much of a large recurring care bill the VA allows depends on the care provided and the documentation it asks for, but allowable deductions can substantially reduce or zero out the income the VA counts, so an applicant who looks ineligible on paper may still qualify.

Will Aid and Attendance affect Delaware Medicaid eligibility later?

In Delaware, a VA pension counts as unearned income for Medicaid, but the Aid and Attendance and Housebound allowances are treated as assistance for medical and social services rather than income, and they are not included in the post-eligibility calculation either. So the allowance is disregarded both when eligibility is decided and when the state sets the resident's liability toward the cost of care. Because the rules change, confirm your situation with Delaware Medicaid and a veterans service officer.

Next Steps

Start by gathering the veteran's discharge papers and a current medical record of the dementia, then ask any memory-care facility you are considering for the written dementia-care disclosure and fee schedule Delaware requires. With those in hand, contact the Delaware Office of Veterans Services to have an accredited Veteran Service Officer file the claim with you, at no cost.

Compare Care Settings in Delaware

Aid and Attendance can help pay for any care setting. See how it works for the others:

Learn More

VA BenefitsVA Aid and Attendance in DelawareVA Aid and Attendance in Delaware for 2026: who qualifies, monthly rates up to $2,874, how to apply, and where to get free help filing in Delaware. Care TypesMemory Care in DelawareDelaware has no separate memory care license. Dementia care lives in assisted living and nursing homes, and a disclosure law tells you what a facility can do. VA BenefitsVA Aid and Attendance for Assisted Living in DelawareHow VA Aid and Attendance helps pay for assisted living in Delaware: 2026 rates up to $2,874/month, who qualifies, the medical-expense rule, and free help. FinancialHow to Pay for Memory CareHow to pay for memory care in 2026: what it costs versus assisted living and how private pay, Medicaid waivers, VA benefits, and insurance each help cover it.
Your next step Find personalized help paying for memory care with VA benefits in Delaware 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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