A married wartime veteran in New Hampshire who needs daily help with bathing, dressing, or eating can collect up to $2,874 a month in 2026 through a higher VA pension rate. That benefit is VA Aid and Attendance, the same federal pension paid at a higher maximum when a veteran needs regular care, reaching $34,488 a year for a veteran with a spouse.

In This Guide

What Is Aid and Attendance?

Aid and Attendance (A&A) is an enhanced VA pension benefit for wartime veterans and their surviving spouses who need help with everyday activities. It isn't a separate program. It's the same VA pension paid at a higher maximum rate when you need regular care, so the Aid and Attendance figure sets the ceiling for the whole pension, not an amount added on top of the basic rate. That is the pension route, and it's what this guide covers. VA Form 21-2680 also covers Aid and Attendance that will be added to your monthly compensation, so a veteran who receives VA disability compensation rather than a VA pension applies on the compensation side instead.

You may qualify if you need help with daily activities such as:

  • Bathing or showering
  • Dressing and undressing
  • Eating
  • Using the toilet
  • Adjusting special prosthetic or orthopedic appliances
  • Protecting yourself from everyday hazards

You can also qualify if you're bedridden, live in a nursing home because of the loss of mental or physical abilities related to a disability, or have severely limited eyesight (5/200 or less in both eyes, or a visual field contracted to 5 degrees or less).

A&A raises the maximum pension the VA can pay you, and the VA pays that pension monthly.

Not sure whether your parent qualifies for Aid and Attendance? Check with Brevy's care navigator at brevy.com.

Do You Qualify?

To receive Aid and Attendance, you have to meet all four of these requirements.

1. Wartime service. How much service the VA requires depends on when the veteran started active duty. A veteran who started before September 8, 1980 needs at least 90 days of active duty with at least one day during a recognized wartime period. A veteran who started as an enlisted person after September 7, 1980 generally needs at least 24 months of active duty, 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 was an officer and started active duty after October 16, 1981 meets the service test if they hadn't previously served on active duty for at least 24 months, again with at least one day during wartime. Recognized wartime periods include World War II (December 7, 1941 to December 31, 1946), the Korean conflict (June 27, 1950 to January 31, 1955), the Vietnam War era, and the Gulf War (August 2, 1990 through a future date to be set by law or presidential proclamation).

2. Discharge, plus age or disability. The veteran must not have received a dishonorable discharge, and at least one of these four must be true: they are at least 65 years old; they have a permanent and total disability; they are a patient in a nursing home for long-term care because of a disability; or they are getting Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income. 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 permanent and total rating.

3. Need for assistance. The veteran or surviving spouse must need regular help with daily activities, be bedridden, be in a nursing home, or have severely limited eyesight as described above.

4. Income and net worth within VA's limits. Your yearly family income and your net worth must both fall within the limits Congress sets, and the 2026 net worth limit is $163,699. VA's net worth calculation counts your and your dependents' assets plus your annual income combined. Your primary home, your car, and basic home items like appliances you wouldn't take with you if you moved don't count.

Surviving spouses qualify too. If the veteran has passed away and the surviving spouse needs help with daily activities, they can apply for the Survivors Pension with Aid and Attendance, which has a 2026 maximum annual rate of $18,697 for a surviving spouse with no dependents.

2026 Aid and Attendance Rates

The VA calculates your payment as the difference between your countable income and the Maximum Annual Pension Rate (MAPR) for your category. If you have no countable income, you can receive the full MAPR. The VA publishes these ceilings as annual amounts but pays pension monthly: under 38 CFR 3.273, it subtracts your countable income from your annual MAPR and divides the remainder by 12. These rates are federal, so they're the same in New Hampshire as anywhere else.

Category Maximum Annual Rate
Veteran, no dependents $29,093
Veteran with spouse $34,488
Two veterans married to each other (both A&A) $46,143
Surviving spouse, no dependents $18,697
Veteran, no dependents (Housebound) $21,313

Here's how the math works for a veteran with a spouse who qualifies for A&A: the VA starts from the $34,488 MAPR, subtracts the household's countable income for the year, and pays what's left in monthly installments. Medical expenses your insurance doesn't cover can reduce your countable income, but only the amount above a threshold the VA prints for each household type counts: $1,141 for a veteran with one dependent, $872 for a veteran with no spouse or child, and $584 for a surviving spouse with no dependent child.

The Net Worth Limit and 3-Year Lookback

The 2026 net worth limit is $163,699. VA's calculation combines your and your dependents' assets with your annual income.

What counts: the fair market value of all the real and personal property you own, minus any mortgage, plus your annual income.

What doesn't count: your primary residence (the home where you live most or all of the time), your car, and basic home items.

The 3-Year Lookback Rule

The VA reviews any assets you transferred for less than fair market value in the three years before the VA receives your claim. If an asset you transferred that way was part of your net worth and, had you kept it, would have put or helped put your net worth over the limit, the VA will assess a penalty period of up to five years.

If you're thinking about transferring assets, talk to a VA-accredited attorney or an elder law attorney first.

How to Apply for VA Aid and Attendance in New Hampshire

These steps are the pension route, the one the VA describes with "You may be eligible for this benefit if you get a VA pension and you meet at least 1 of these requirements." They take two forms and a medical exam (a third form if the veteran is a nursing home patient), plus an optional intent-to-file form that can secure an earlier effective date while you gather documents.

1
Step 1

File an intent to file, if you're still gathering information

Submitting VA Form 21-0966 (Intent to File) first "can secure the earliest possible effective date for any retroactive payments you may be eligible to receive," in the VA's words, and it covers disability, Veterans pension, survivors pension, and DIC claims. That can hold an earlier start date for benefits while you wait on records and the medical exam. You then have 1 year to complete and file the claim, and each intent to file counts only for the benefit type it names, so one filed for disability compensation doesn't hold your place for pension.

2
Step 2

Get a medical examination

A medical examiner fills out the examination information section of VA Form 21-2680 (Examination for Housebound Status or Permanent Need for Regular Aid and Attendance), to document your need for assistance. If the veteran is a nursing home patient, a nursing home official also completes VA Form 21-0779 (Request for Nursing Home Information in Connection with Claim for Aid and Attendance) to verify the veteran is a patient in a qualifying extended care facility.

3
Step 3

Complete the pension application

On the pension route, a wartime veteran who isn't already receiving VA pension also files a pension claim on VA Form 21P-527EZ (Application for Veterans Pension). If you receive VA disability compensation rather than a VA pension, Form 21-2680 covers Aid and Attendance that will be added to your monthly compensation.

4
Step 4

Submit everything

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. New Hampshire's state Veterans Services Officers can also help (see below). If you start the pension application online while signed in with an identity-verified account, that automatically notifies the VA of your intent to file, so you don't need the separate form.

5
Step 5

Wait for a decision

Asked how long a decision takes, the VA answers "It depends." It works claims in the order it receives them, unless a claim requires priority processing.

Documents to Gather First

For a Veterans Pension claim, the VA asks for your DD214 or other separation documents, your service treatment records, and medical evidence such as doctor's reports and test results; you can submit them or let the VA gather them. Have ready, too, your Social Security number (and VA file number, if any), your military, marital, and work history, information about your dependents, your household's gross monthly income and assets, and your unreimbursed medical expenses. A surviving spouse's Survivors Pension claim needs the Veteran's DD214 or other separation documents, the death certificate showing cause of death, and a marriage certificate or other evidence showing the marriage meets the VA's requirements.

Getting Help in New Hampshire: The Division of Veterans Services

You don't have to file this claim alone, and you should never pay anyone a fee to file an initial VA claim. In New Hampshire, the state agency that helps is the Division of Veterans Services.

The New Hampshire Division of Veterans Services

Veterans Services Officers employed at the New Hampshire Division of Veterans Services help veterans who live in New Hampshire, and their dependents, secure the benefits or preferences they may be entitled to under any state or federal law. State law (RSA 110-B:85) charges the Division with a statewide service that helps veterans and family members identify eligibility for benefits, file claims, and review claims decisions for appeals.

The main office is at 275 Chestnut Street, Room 517, Manchester: (603) 624-9230, or toll-free in New Hampshire at 1-800-622-9230. The Division says all locations are booked through it and are by appointment only at (603) 624-9230. Officers also meet veterans in person at visitation sites around the state, including the VA Medical Center in Manchester, the Readiness Center (Armory) in Nashua, the Gibson Center for Senior Services in North Conway, and the Readiness Center (Armory) in Portsmouth; the Division lists its Franklin and Tilton sites as starting back up in January 2027.

The New Hampshire Veterans Home

The New Hampshire Veterans Home at 139 Winter Street in Tilton (603-527-4400) is the home state law (RSA 119:1) establishes "for the support, care, and treatment of veterans." The Home doesn't publish a bed count, so ask it directly about current availability. Its eligibility page requires active-duty service (other than active duty for training) in the U.S. Armed Forces, or service in reserve units or the New Hampshire Army or Air National Guard, plus an honorable discharge; no combat service, service-connected disability, or minimum age is required. The statute is now broader on discharge: as amended effective August 31, 2026, it also covers a general discharge under honorable conditions, so don't read the page's "honorably discharged" as ruling that out. The page also asks for at least one year of New Hampshire residency before applying, or New Hampshire as the home of record on discharge papers. Admission also depends on whether the applicant's condition is within the Home's resources and ability to treat, and on the applicant not presenting potential harm to self or other residents.

New Hampshire's Veteran Population

The VA's National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics (NCVAS) puts New Hampshire's veteran population at 90,745 for fiscal year 2024, a modelled projection rather than a head count. The U.S. Census Bureau's 2020-2024 American Community Survey estimate is 86,727, and Census cautions that estimates from different sources are not comparable. They are an older group than the country's: NCVAS puts 50.2% at 65 or over in fiscal year 2024, against 45.6% nationally, and an earlier NCVAS summary, keyed to September 30, 2019, put veterans at 8.5% of New Hampshire's adult population compared with 6.8% nationally.

A word of caution: be wary of companies that charge fees to help with VA claims. No one can lawfully charge you for preparing or filing an application for VA benefits. In New Hampshire, start with the Division of Veterans Services.

How VA Aid and Attendance Works with New Hampshire Medicaid

Aid and Attendance and New Hampshire Medicaid long-term care are run separately, by different agencies and under different rules. New Hampshire's Medicaid long-term care benefits, including nursing facility care and the home- and community-based Choices for Independence (CFI) waiver, are administered by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), which sets its own income and asset limits. A veteran may qualify for both, but the two count money differently, so a few points are worth understanding.,

  • Medical expenses count differently. The VA can lower your countable income by unreimbursed medical expenses (only the amount above a set threshold), while Medicaid applies its own income and asset tests, which vary by state.
  • The two programs work differently. A&A is part of the VA pension paid each month to the veteran or surviving spouse, figured from the annual rate less countable income. New Hampshire Medicaid long-term care covers nursing facility care and Choices for Independence waiver services through DHHS. Ask a DHHS caseworker what Medicaid will and won't pay for in your care setting.
  • Institutional Medicaid can reduce your VA pension. Under 38 CFR 3.551(i), a veteran with no spouse or child (or a surviving spouse with no child) who is receiving Medicaid-covered nursing home care has the VA pension capped at $90 a month for any period after the month the Medicaid payments begin. The statute behind it, 38 U.S.C. 5503(d), runs the cap from after the month of admission instead, so if Medicaid started months after admission, check which date the VA applied to your award. In New Hampshire, that $90 is protected instead of the state's $93 personal needs allowance, not on top of it, so the two are never added together. The cap doesn't reach nursing home care in a State home for which the VA pays a per diem, and whether the New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton falls under that exclusion depends on whether the VA makes that payment for its care, so check a stay there with an accredited Veterans Services Officer.
  • Eligibility and share of cost are two separate steps. At the eligibility step, most states apply SSI income rules to the aged, blind, and disabled groups (42 CFR 435.601), and under SSA POMS SI 00830.308 the A&A allowance is not income for SSI purposes. New Hampshire is one of only 8 states that use at least one eligibility rule more restrictive than SSI (the 209(b) states), so its own eligibility rule governs at that step and may differ; confirm how DHHS treats the Aid and Attendance amount before relying on it. After eligibility, New Hampshire figures a nursing facility resident's cost of care under its own rule (He-W 854.17) and the federal rule for 209(b) states (42 CFR 435.733), which says income disregarded at eligibility must be considered. DHHS's Medical Assistance Manual starts from the resident's income and subtracts, in order: either the $90 VA nursing facility pension or a $93 personal needs allowance; income allocated under the manual's Allocation of Income rules (Part 627); the resident's own health insurance premiums (including Medicare Part B), coinsurance, and deductibles, plus necessary care Medicaid doesn't cover and unpaid prior medical debt; any continuing SSI benefits; and, for a stay a physician verifies will last 3 months or less when the resident is expected to return home, an allowance to maintain the home. Only then is the VA Aid and Attendance allowance added back, and the result is what the resident must pay toward the cost of care. That add-back can apply only to a resident whose VA pension hasn't been reduced to the $90 cap (for example, a veteran who has a spouse or a child); it doesn't reach a capped pension. Where the $90 cap applies, federal law bars that capped pension from being used to reduce Medicaid's payment to the facility. For Choices for Independence and other home- and community-based services, New Hampshire's rule (He-W 854.12(b)) says the aid and attendance allowance is applied to the cost of care; ask DHHS how the rest of that calculation works for you. Confirm with a NH DHHS caseworker and an accredited Veterans Services Officer before you rely on both.

For the bigger picture of how to protect assets and plan for long-term care, start with our guide to Medicaid Planning Strategies.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does VA Aid and Attendance pay in New Hampshire in 2026?

The maximum depends on your situation. The 2026 maximum annual rate with Aid and Attendance is $29,093 for a veteran alone, $34,488 for a veteran with a spouse (up to $2,874 a month), and $18,697 for a surviving spouse with no dependents. The VA subtracts your countable income from the annual rate and pays the rest monthly, and unreimbursed medical expenses above a set threshold can lower that income and raise your benefit.

Where can I get help applying in New Hampshire?

Contact the New Hampshire Division of Veterans Services, which state law charges with helping veterans and family members file claims. Officers see veterans by appointment, booked through (603) 624-9230, at sites in Manchester, Nashua, North Conway, and Portsmouth, among others. No one can lawfully charge you for preparing or filing your application.

Can I receive Aid and Attendance and New Hampshire Medicaid at the same time?

A veteran may qualify for both, but eligibility and share of cost are two different steps. Under the SSI rules most states apply at the eligibility step, the A&A allowance is not income, but New Hampshire is one of only 8 states with more restrictive (209(b)) eligibility rules, so its own rule governs there and may differ; confirm with DHHS how it treats the A&A amount. Once you are eligible and living in a nursing facility, New Hampshire's cost-of-care rule subtracts either the $90 VA nursing facility pension or a $93 personal needs allowance (never both), along with income allocations, health insurance costs, uncovered care, and the other listed deductions, then adds the Aid and Attendance allowance back; the result is what you pay toward your care. That add-back applies only where the VA pension hasn't been cut to the $90 cap. If you enter Medicaid-covered nursing home care as a veteran with no spouse or child, the VA pension is generally capped at $90 a month, unless the care is in a State home for which the VA pays a per diem. For Choices for Independence waiver services, New Hampshire's rule applies the A&A allowance to the cost of care. Confirm with a DHHS caseworker and an accredited Veterans Services Officer before relying on both.

How long does it take to get approved?

Asked how long a decision takes, the VA answers "It depends." It works claims in the order it receives them, unless a claim requires priority processing.

Learn More

MedicaidMedicaid Planning StrategiesSee which assets you keep, how the 5-year look-back works, and the legal moves that qualify you for Medicaid long-term care without losing the house. Care TypesAssisted Living in New HampshireAssisted living in New Hampshire runs well above the national median, and Medicaid waivers pay for care, not rent. How it is licensed, costs, and who pays. Care TypesNursing Homes in New HampshireNursing homes in New Hampshire in 2026: costs run well above the national median. What a stay costs, who pays, and how to vet a facility before you choose. Care TypesMemory Care in New HampshireNew Hampshire has no separate memory care license. Dementia care is delivered in a licensed residence, and state law requires dementia-specific staff training. Care TypesThe Cost of Senior Care in New HampshireWhat senior care costs in New Hampshire in 2026, from assisted living to nursing homes and in-home care, why the state runs high, and how families pay. Care TypesAssisted Living vs. Nursing Home in New HampshireAssisted living vs. a nursing home in New Hampshire comes down to level of care and who pays. Compare the cost gap and what New Hampshire Medicaid covers.
Your next step Find personalized help applying for VA Aid and Attendance in New Hampshire 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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