AARP Health Benefits Navigator: An Essential Tool for Veterans and Caregivers

  • By:jobsplane

19

09/2022

Fortunately, AARP recently launched a free online tool that allows veterans and caregivers to easily review VA and Department of Defense (DoD) health care benefits. If I had had the Health Benefits Navigator for Veterans and Military Families, it would have saved me countless hours and stress, and my father would have had access to his much-deserved benefits much sooner.

How I found my father's benefits

My father had left the military after those war years, so I had no knowledge of terminology or knowledge manage in the VA system. I started by applying for the Veterans Aid and Attendance benefit. I had never heard of the most important document we needed: the DD-214, which is defined in the new browser. I then signed him up for VA health care benefits. It took many months and a lot of frustration, but once he was finally enrolled, the VA was very supportive of his care.

One of the reasons I initially enrolled my dad in the VA health care system was that he needed hearing aids, and the VA fully covered them. Later, he was provided with a pocket hearing amplifier. He saw doctors at the VA medical center and stayed enrolled in Medicare, a program that covers other aspects of medical care.

Health Benefits Browser, from AARP: An Essential Tool for Veterans and Caregivers

Later, my father began receiving primary care at home (in English) from a wonderful nurse and case manager who came to the house every week, since dad lived with me. When necessary, we receive visits from a professional nurse, physical therapists, home health aides, and respite providers. The VA also provided her with medications, incontinence supplies, medical equipment, access ramps and more. For the last four months of his life, the VA provided my father with hospice care at home. These health care benefits allowed us to grant my dad his wish to be cared for at home until he passed away at age 94, accompanied by my sisters and me.

AARP Health Benefits Navigator: An Essential Tool for Veterans and Caregivers
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