VA Aid and Attendance for Nursing Home Care in Georgia

VA Aid and Attendance can put up to $29,093 a year toward a nursing home in Georgia for a qualifying wartime veteran with no dependents.1 Surviving spouses may qualify for up to $18,697 a year, substantial help in a state where nursing home costs run below the national median.2

In This Guide

• How much a nursing home costs in Georgia
• How Aid and Attendance helps pay for it
• How nursing home costs lower your countable income
• Who qualifies
• The nursing-home Medicaid pension cap
• How Aid and Attendance works with Georgia Medicaid
• How to apply and get free help
• Frequently asked questions

How Much a Nursing Home Costs in Georgia

Per the 2025 CareScout Cost of Care Survey, a semi-private room in a Georgia nursing home costs about $105,850 a year, roughly $8,821 a month or $290 a day. A private room runs about $113,150 a year, about $9,429 a month or $310 a day. Both annual figures assume 365 days of care. Both run below the national medians of about $114,975 for a semi-private room and $129,575 for a private room.2

These are statewide medians from an industry survey, so the price at a particular facility can run higher or lower.

If the family keeps the house while one spouse is in a nursing home, that property tax bill runs alongside the facility's, so check whether Georgia's disabled veteran property tax exemption applies before you budget the year.

How VA Aid and Attendance Helps Pay for a Nursing Home in Georgia

VA Aid and Attendance is a qualifying veteran's or survivor's VA pension paid at a higher maximum rate when the person needs help with daily activities, is bedridden, lives in a nursing home due to physical or mental incapacity, or has severely limited eyesight.5 It is not a separate program, and the higher rate is the ceiling for the entire pension rather than an amount tacked onto the basic rate. (VA can also add an aid-and-attendance amount to a veteran's monthly compensation; this guide covers the pension route.)6

The rate below is a Maximum Annual Pension Rate (MAPR), the maximum amount of pension payable. VA pays the difference between the claimant's income for VA purposes and that limit, so a claimant receives the MAPR less their countable income. VA publishes the rates as annual amounts but pays pension monthly: under 38 CFR 3.273, the monthly payment is the annual maximum, less countable income, divided by 12. For 2026, the annual maximums are:1

Against a Georgia semi-private nursing home room at about $105,850 a year, even the full $29,093 maximum for a veteran with no dependents covers only part of the bill.2,1

How Nursing Home Costs Lower Your Countable Income

VA pension, including its Aid and Attendance increase, is a needs-based benefit: to be eligible, a veteran's yearly family income and net worth have to be within limits Congress sets. Because the benefit is keyed to income for VA purposes, large recurring care expenses can help a veteran qualify even when their income appears too high at first glance.1

Here is how it works: only the portion of unreimbursed medical expenses (UMEs) that exceeds 5 percent of the applicable Maximum Annual Pension Rate (MAPR) is deductible. For 2026, the annual floor works out like this:1

• $872 a year for a veteran with no spouse or child, which is how the VA states it1
• A higher floor for a veteran with a spouse or child, because the 5 percent is taken on the larger MAPR that includes family members; the floor never counts the aid-and-attendance or housebound increase1

Example: a single veteran has $18,000 in annual income and pays $105,850 a year for a Georgia nursing home. After subtracting the $872 floor, roughly $104,978 in nursing home expenses become deductible. That drives countable income far below the MAPR threshold, making the veteran eligible for the full Aid and Attendance rate.1

Nursing home fees, including the meals and lodging the facility charges, count as UMEs. So do insurance premiums: 38 CFR 3.278 names health, medical, hospitalization, and long-term care insurance premiums as medical expenses, and lists premiums for Medicare Parts A, B, and D and for long-term care insurance among them.1

Who Qualifies for VA Aid and Attendance in a Georgia Nursing Home

To receive VA Aid and Attendance, a veteran must meet all of the following:5

1. Wartime service, and no dishonorable discharge: veterans who began active duty before September 8, 1980 need at least 90 days of active duty with at least one day during a recognized wartime period (among them World War II, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam War era, and the Gulf War, which has no end date yet); those who enlisted after September 7, 1980 generally need at least 24 months of active duty, or the full period they were called or ordered to serve, with at least one day during wartime; an officer who started on active duty after October 16, 1981 and had not previously served on active duty for at least 24 months also qualifies under VA's service test.
2. Age, disability, or care status: meet at least one of four alternatives, any one of which satisfies this test: at least 65 years old; a permanent and total disability; a patient in a nursing home for long-term care because of a disability; or getting Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income. A wartime veteran under 65 who receives SSI qualifies here without any adjudicated rating.
3. Net worth under $163,699 (for 2026): VA's net worth calculation adds the claimant's and their dependents' assets to their annual income; the primary home, a vehicle, and basic household items are excluded.5
4. Need for aid and attendance: requires help with daily activities (bathing, dressing, feeding), is bedridden, is a patient in a nursing home due to mental or physical incapacity, or has severely limited vision.

The VA also applies a 36-month look-back on asset transfers for less than fair market value. Transfers made on or after October 18, 2018 can trigger a penalty period of up to five years.5,1

Surviving spouses of qualifying wartime veterans may be eligible for the Survivors Pension with Aid and Attendance at up to $18,697 a year.1

If your net worth is near the $163,699 limit, do not assume you are over it. Nursing home fees count as unreimbursed medical expenses that lower your countable income for VA purposes, and the same large care bills can bring your effective net worth down as well. See How Nursing Home Costs Lower Your Countable Income above before you rule yourself out.1,5

The $90/Month Nursing-Home Pension Cap

This is one of the most important planning facts for families weighing both VA pension and Medicaid.

When a veteran with no spouse or child, or a surviving spouse with no child, is receiving Medicaid-covered nursing facility care, federal law limits VA pension, including the Aid and Attendance amount, to no more than $90 per month (38 U.S.C. 5503(d)(2), implemented at 38 CFR 3.551(i)).3 The statute and the regulation start the cap at different points: the statute applies it after the month of admission to the nursing facility, while the regulation applies it after the month in which the Medicaid payments begin, so a veteran who paid privately before Medicaid started should check which date VA used on their own award.3 The VA says a facility cannot count that $90 as income toward your cost of care, so the veteran keeps the full $90 for personal expenses.3 In Georgia, that $90 is the personal needs allowance, not an addition to it: the Georgia DFCS Medicaid Policy Manual, section 2418, says the maximum pension for a veteran in a nursing home with no dependents is the same as the personal needs allowance in the patient liability budget, and if the only VA income is up to $90, that is the resident's personal needs allowance.4

That cap turns on a defined term rather than the everyday sense of a nursing home. For purposes of that subsection, 38 U.S.C. 5503(d)(1)(B) defines "nursing facility" as one described in section 1919 of the Social Security Act, "other than a facility that is a State home with respect to which the Secretary makes per diem payments for nursing home care pursuant to section 1741(a) of this title," and 38 CFR 3.551 states the rule without repeating that definition. So if the facility is a State veterans home, have that checked against the statutory definition rather than assume the $90 cap applies.3

What this means practically: if a veteran with no spouse or child enters a nursing home that Georgia Medicaid is already paying for, the VA pension does not continue at the full Aid and Attendance rate. Families who plan to use Aid and Attendance to help pay for a nursing home before Medicaid coverage begins should coordinate both applications carefully before the veteran enters a Medicaid-funded facility. An accredited VA representative or elder law attorney can help map out the timing to preserve benefits.3

How Aid and Attendance Works with Georgia Medicaid

VA Aid and Attendance and Georgia Medicaid are separate programs run by different agencies under different rules, and a veteran can receive both at the same time.4 Medicaid looks at VA pension income at two points, and Georgia treats the Aid and Attendance amount the same way at both. At the eligibility step, a state applies SSI income methodology to aged, blind, and disabled applicants (42 CFR 435.601), and under that methodology VA aid and attendance and housebound allowances are not income (SSA POMS SI 00830.308), so only the basic VA pension counts toward the income limit.3 At the post-eligibility step (the patient liability, or cost share, that a resident already on Medicaid pays toward the nursing home), the federal rule for institutionalized residents, 42 CFR 435.725, says income disregarded at eligibility must be considered, but a state's own rule can exempt the Aid and Attendance portion.3 Georgia's does. The Georgia Division of Family and Children Services Medicaid Policy Manual, section 2418, says "UME/CME reimbursements and A&A are not considered in determining patient liability and cost share and are never considered as income for determining Medicaid eligibility." So in Georgia, the Aid and Attendance amount does not raise what a Medicaid nursing-home resident owes the facility.4

Income that does count is not all paid to the facility either. Federal rules require the state, before applying a resident's income to the cost of care, to deduct a personal needs allowance, an amount for the needs of a spouse or family at home, and medical costs no third party pays, such as Medicare and other health insurance premiums.4 Because the two programs count income and assets differently, VA pension income can still affect Georgia Medicaid eligibility or a patient's cost of care, so the order and timing of applying for each can matter.4

Veterans and families should consult a VA-accredited representative and consider talking with a benefits counselor or elder law attorney before applying, to understand how each program will treat the other.

How to Apply and Get Free Help

The steps below are the pension route: VA's condition for this benefit is "You may be eligible for this benefit if you get a VA pension." Form 21-2680 also covers an aid-and-attendance amount "that will be added to your monthly compensation or pension benefits," so a veteran already receiving VA disability compensation uses that form without applying for a pension. To apply on the pension route, you will need these forms:6

• 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.
• VA Form 21P-527EZ (Application for Veterans Pension). This is the wartime, means-tested pension application, filed by a wartime veteran pursuing the pension route who is not already receiving a VA pension. A veteran whose aid-and-attendance amount would be added to VA disability compensation does not file it.
• VA Form 21-0779 (Request for Nursing Home Information in Connection with Claim for Aid and Attendance), which a nursing home official uses to verify that the veteran is a patient in a qualifying extended care facility.
• VA Form 21P-8416 (Medical Expense Report), for reporting the medical expenses, such as nursing home fees, that you paid and weren't reimbursed for and don't expect to be.6

If you are still gathering information, you can submit VA Form 21-0966 (Intent to File) first. VA says "Submitting an intent to file can secure the earliest possible effective date for any retroactive payments you may be eligible to receive."6

You can apply online at VA.gov, by mail to the VA Pension Intake Center, or in person at a VA regional office; an accredited attorney, accredited claims agent, or accredited Veterans Service Organization representative can also help you file.6

Documents to Gather First

Assembling these before you file helps avoid delays:

• Discharge papers (DD-214) showing dates and character of service.
• Medical records and the completed VA Form 21-2680 documenting the need for aid and attendance.
• Financial documents covering income, assets, and out-of-pocket medical and nursing home costs (used for the net worth test and the UME deduction).
• Nursing home statement showing the monthly cost of care, which supports both VA Form 21-0779 and the medical-expense deduction.

A Georgia Department of Veterans Service (GDVS) Veterans Service Officer can help you put this package together and file the claim.

Help in Georgia: Georgia Department of Veterans Service (GDVS) Veterans Field Service Offices offer personal assistance to veterans and their families, caregivers, and survivors in all matters pertaining to veterans benefits, and GDVS says its VA-accredited Veterans Service Officers are ready to assist at every step of the claims and appeals process. Appointments are preferred, but walk-ins are accepted as time permits. The main GDVS office can be reached at 404-656-2300.7 GDVS described this help as free in a 2017 press release; its current benefits pages don't state a fee either way, so ask when you call.7 Visit veterans.georgia.gov for office locations across the state.

Under federal rules (38 CFR 14.636), accredited agents and attorneys may charge for representation only after VA has issued notice of an initial decision on the claim, and recognized veterans service organizations may not charge fees at all, so don't pay anyone to file an initial claim.7

Compare Care Settings in Georgia

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

• How Aid and Attendance Pays for Assisted Living in Georgia
• How Aid and Attendance Pays for In-Home Care in Georgia
• How Aid and Attendance Pays for Memory Care in Georgia

Learn More

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.