VA Aid and Attendance can help pay for in-home care in Indiana, and most families don't realize how much it covers. It's a monthly cash benefit paid directly to the veteran, who decides how to spend it: a home health aide, a homemaker, or even a family member providing the care. For a wartime veteran or surviving spouse who needs help with daily activities, it can be what keeps them at home.

This guide explains what in-home care costs in Indiana, how much Aid and Attendance pays, who qualifies, and how the benefit works alongside Indiana Medicaid.

In This Guide

How Much In-Home Care Costs in Indiana

In-home care in Indiana still adds up quickly. According to the CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey (the successor to the Genworth survey, released in March 2026), a non-medical caregiver in Indiana costs about $35 per hour, and a private-duty nurse about $70 per hour. The 2025 survey merged the former "homemaker" and "home health aide" categories into that single non-medical caregiver rate. Even part-time help adds up: a caregiver for several hours a day, a few days a week, quickly reaches thousands of dollars a month. That $35 rate is exactly the national median for non-medical caregiver care, to the dollar, which puts Indiana 26th among the states rather than at the cheap end of the range.

Costs are higher in the Indianapolis metro and northern markets than in rural areas, and they climb as care needs grow. This is exactly the kind of expense Aid and Attendance is designed to offset.

Care isn't the only cost of staying at home, either. If the veteran owns the house, property taxes are part of the yearly bill too. Our guide to the Indiana disabled veteran property tax exemption walks through who can claim it and how to file.

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

Aid and Attendance is an increased monthly VA pension for wartime veterans and surviving spouses who need help with daily activities. It is paid as cash directly to the veteran, who decides how to use it. Because it is paid to the beneficiary as part of the monthly pension, families commonly put it toward a home health aide, a homemaker, or a family caregiver.

Category Maximum Annual Rate Monthly Equivalent
Veteran alone $29,093 $2,424
Veteran with spouse $34,488 $2,874
Surviving spouse $18,697 $1,558

The VA sets these ceilings as annual amounts, so the monthly figure is the yearly rate divided by 12. The Maximum Annual Pension Rate is a ceiling, not a payment: the VA bases the payment on the difference between your income for VA purposes and that limit, so a household with other income receives less than the maximum. At up to $2,424 a month for a veteran, the benefit can pay for a substantial block of in-home care hours at Indiana's roughly $35-an-hour rate, and at up to $2,874 for a veteran with a spouse it covers even more., Keep in mind the VA pays the veteran; the veteran arranges and pays for the care.

How In-Home Care Costs Lower Your Countable Income for Aid and Attendance in Indiana

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, count as unreimbursed medical expenses (UMEs) that reduce the income the VA counts, which is why many veterans who look "too rich" on paper still qualify once their care bills are subtracted.

Only the portion of those expenses above 5% of the applicable annual pension rate is deductible. For 2026 the VA puts that floor at $872 a year for a veteran with no spouse or child; it rises for a veteran with dependents, but it never includes the aid-and-attendance or housebound increase. So if a veteran pays tens of thousands of dollars a year for in-home care, nearly all of it counts against income once that first $872 is set aside. Payments to an in-home attendant for help with activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living are medical expenses as long as the attendant provides health care or custodial care, and those payments must be commensurate with the number of hours the attendant actually attends to the veteran. The attendant must be a health care provider unless the veteran needs Aid and Attendance or is housebound, or unless 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 attendant provides.

Who Qualifies

To qualify for Aid and Attendance, a veteran generally must:

  • Have no dishonorable discharge
  • Meet the wartime service test on one of the three paths the VA lists: 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 needs at least 24 months (with some exceptions), or the full period for which they were called or ordered to active duty, with at least one day during wartime; or a veteran who started active duty as an officer after October 16, 1981 and had not previously served on active duty for at least 24 months
  • Meet at least one of four conditions, any one of which satisfies the test: 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
  • Need regular aid and attendance, shown by needing another person's help with daily activities like bathing, feeding, and dressing; or being bedridden; or being a patient in a nursing home because of the loss of mental or physical abilities related to a disability; or having limited eyesight (5/200 or less in both eyes, or concentric contraction of the visual field to 5 degrees or less)
  • Have a net worth below $163,699 for 2026, which counts the claimant's and their dependents' assets and annual income together but excludes 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. A surviving spouse can qualify under the Survivors Pension using the same net worth limit.

Using Aid and Attendance to Pay a Family Caregiver

Many families want to keep care in the family, and there are two ways VA benefits make that possible. First, because Aid and Attendance is cash paid to the veteran, the veteran can simply use it to pay a relative who provides care.

Second, the Veteran-Directed Care (VDC) program gives the veteran a flexible monthly budget to hire their own caregivers, including family members. The budget is managed by the veteran or the veteran's representative, who hires and supervises their own workers, and a financial management services provider helps handle the employer responsibilities that come with being the hiring party. Veterans may hire family, friends, and neighbors, including a spouse. To ask about VDC, contact your local VA medical center's social work or geriatrics department.

How Aid and Attendance Works with Indiana Medicaid

VA Aid and Attendance is paid as part of a qualified veteran's or survivor's VA pension rather than as a standalone benefit, and for an Indiana senior who also needs Medicaid long-term care, the two programs interact. Indiana Medicaid covers long-term care for low-income aged, blind, and disabled Hoosiers through institutional and home- and community-based pathways, including the Indiana PathWays for Aging program for members age 60 and older, administered by the Family and Social Services Administration.

Under general federal pension rules, VA pension (including the Aid and Attendance increase) is counted as income, but unreimbursed medical expenses such as out-of-pocket care can reduce the income that counts for VA pension purposes. Medicaid eligibility is only the first step, though. The federal share-of-cost rule, 42 CFR 435.725, is written for individuals in medical institutions and intermediate care facilities, and where it governs, income that was disregarded in determining eligibility must be considered in the post-eligibility calculation, so any Aid and Attendance amount not counted at the eligibility step does count there. That income does not reach the facility whole, though. Before the agency applies anything toward its payment to the institution, it must deduct five amounts from your total income, in this order: (1) a personal needs allowance for clothing and other personal needs while in the institution; (2) if you have only a spouse at home, an amount for that spouse's maintenance needs; (3) if you have a family at home, an amount for that family's maintenance needs; (4) amounts for incurred expenses for medical or remedial care that are not subject to payment by a third party; and (5) the full amount of any SSI and state supplementary payments you continue to receive. Each of the five is a deduction the agency is required to make, not a benefit you have to apply for, and only what remains after all five goes toward the cost of care. Indiana sets the dollar amounts for the personal needs allowance and the spousal maintenance allowance, so ask the Indiana Medicaid eligibility office for the figures it will use in your case. Because 42 CFR 435.725 is written for institutional care, it does not settle the post-eligibility result for home and community-based waiver services such as Indiana PathWays for Aging, which is the setting most home-care readers are in; ask the eligibility office which rule applies before you budget. Because how a VA pension is treated for Medicaid depends on the pathway and your circumstances, confirm with a County Veterans Service Officer and the Indiana Medicaid eligibility office before relying on any single rule.

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), with the examination information section filled out by a medical examiner to document the need for help. That form covers Aid and Attendance that will be added to your monthly compensation or pension benefits, so which second form you file depends on which benefit you receive. The VA states the pension route's condition plainly: you may be eligible for this benefit if you get a VA pension. On that route, a wartime veteran who is not already receiving a VA pension also files VA Form 21P-527EZ (Application for Veterans Pension), the means-tested wartime pension application; a veteran who receives VA disability compensation rather than a pension does not use that form. You can apply online at VA.gov, by mail to the VA Pension Intake Center, or in person at a VA regional office. Asked how long a decision takes, the VA answers "It depends," and it processes claims in the order received unless a claim requires priority processing.

Don't do this alone. The Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs publishes a county-by-county locator for Indiana's County Veterans Service Offices, which it describes as local points of contact for veterans in their counties, assisting veterans and their family members with benefits they may be eligible for as a result of their military service. VA states that the services an accredited Veterans Service Organization representative provides on your VA benefit claims are always free, while an accredited attorney or claims agent can charge you fees for their services.

Frequently Asked Questions

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

Yes. Aid and Attendance is paid as cash to the veteran, who can use it for a home health aide, a homemaker, or other in-home care. With a non-medical caregiver in Indiana running about $35 an hour, the benefit of up to $2,424 (or up to $2,874 with a spouse) covers a meaningful block of care hours.

Does the VA provide the in-home care directly?

No. The VA pays the veteran a monthly cash benefit; the veteran arranges and pays for the care. That's what makes the benefit flexible enough to cover an agency aide or a family caregiver.

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 Indiana Medicaid?

Yes, the two are separate programs and can be received together. Because Medicaid treatment varies by pathway, confirm with a County Veterans Service Officer and the Indiana Medicaid eligibility office.

Compare Care Settings in Indiana

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

Learn More

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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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