Arizona VA Aid & Attendance

Medicaid nursing facilities and VA’s $90 pension rate

VA has a separate $90 pension-rate rule for a person with no dependents who is living in a Medicaid-covered nursing facility. VA says that, if pension at the $90 rate is awarded, the facility cannot count that monthly payment toward the person’s cost of care and the person keeps the full $90 for personal expenses (VA $90 Medicaid-facility pension guidance). The VA page describes pension, disability compensation, and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation; it does not state that Aid and Attendance itself is paid in addition to the $90 rate (VA $90 Medicaid-facility pension guidance).

That federal VA rule and AHCCCS’s exclusion of Aid and Attendance are related budgeting issues but are not interchangeable. A veteran or survivor should obtain a current VA award letter and have the actual payment components reviewed in the ALTCS application and share-of-cost calculation (AHCCCS VA-benefits income policy).

Arizona State Veterans Homes and property taxes

The VA’s current State Home Per Diem Program list identifies three Arizona State Veterans Homes: Phoenix, Tucson, and Yuma (VA State Home Per Diem Program list). Admission, payment, and bed availability are facility-specific; the fact that a home appears on the VA list is not an ALTCS eligibility determination.

Arizona also has a property-tax exemption statute for qualifying residents, including veterans with service-connected or nonservice-connected disabilities. A veteran with a 100% VA service-connected disability has a full exemption; the statute also provides a $4,188 exemption category for certain other disabled veterans, subject to its conditions and income limits (A.R.S. § 42-11111). The statute excludes veterans-pension payments from its “income from all sources” calculation, but that property-tax rule does not decide ALTCS income treatment (A.R.S. § 42-11111).