To apply for VA home care benefits, enroll in VA health care using Form 10-10EZ, and if you also need financial help to pay for care, file Form 21-2680 for the Aid and Attendance pension. Both applications can be submitted online at VA.gov or by mail. Eligibility depends on your service history, a clinical determination that you need help at home, and, for the pension, your income and net worth.
Two Tracks: Clinical Services and the Pension
“Home care benefits” covers two different things at the VA, and they have separate applications.
The first is clinical care delivered at home. This includes Homemaker and Home Health Aide Care (an aide who helps with bathing, dressing, eating, and shopping under a nurse’s supervision), Home Based Primary Care (a VA clinical team visiting your home), Skilled Home Health Care (short-term wound care, physical therapy, or IV medications), Veteran Directed Care (a flexible budget you use to hire your own caregivers, including family members), Respite Care, and Home Telehealth.1Veterans Affairs. Home and Community Based Services2Veterans Affairs. Homemaker and Home Health Aide Care3Veterans Affairs. Veteran Directed Care Access to these services runs through VA health care enrollment.
The second is a monthly cash benefit. The VA pension with Aid and Attendance is a needs-based payment to wartime veterans that helps cover the cost of care, including in-home care. It is a separate application filed with the Veterans Benefits Administration, not your local medical center. Many veterans qualify for both, and you can pursue them at the same time.
Who Qualifies
For the clinical home care programs, you must be enrolled in VA health care. Under federal regulation, enrollment is a condition for the medical benefits package, with narrow exceptions for emergencies.4eCFR. 38 CFR 17.36 – Enrollment Provision of Hospital and Outpatient Care to Veterans A VA primary care provider then has to determine that you clinically need in-home services, typically because you cannot safely perform daily activities like bathing, dressing, eating, or moving around your home on your own. All enrolled veterans who meet the clinical criteria can receive Homemaker and Home Health Aide services if the service is available at their local facility, though a copay may apply depending on your service-connected disability status.2Veterans Affairs. Homemaker and Home Health Aide Care
Aid and Attendance status is a higher bar. You qualify if you are permanently bedridden, need help protecting yourself from everyday household dangers because of a physical or mental condition, or cannot dress, bathe, feed yourself, or manage personal hygiene without another person’s help.5eCFR. 38 CFR 3.352 – Criteria for Determining Need for Aid and Attendance and Permanently Bedridden These criteria apply whether or not your disability is connected to your military service.
Income and Net Worth for the Pension
If you are applying for the pension side, your combined countable assets and annual income must fall below a set net worth limit. From December 1, 2025 through November 30, 2026, that limit is $163,699.6Veterans Affairs. Current Pension Rates for Veterans Your primary home (with its lot), your personal vehicle, and basic household items are excluded from the calculation, and your home stays excluded even if you move into a nursing home, assisted living, or a family member’s house for care.7eCFR. 38 CFR 3.275 – How VA Determines the Asset Amount for Pension Net Worth Determinations
The VA also looks back 36 months before your claim for asset transfers made for less than fair market value. If it finds one, it may impose a penalty period of up to five years during which no pension is paid. The length depends on the value transferred, and the rule applies to claims filed on or after October 18, 2018.8eCFR. 38 CFR 3.276 – Asset Transfers and Penalty Periods
The pension itself is limited to wartime veterans under 38 U.S.C. ยง 1521, and the annual rate is reduced by your countable income.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 1521 – Veterans of a Period of War
The Forms You File
Form 10-10EZ for Health Care Enrollment
Form 10-10EZ is the application to enroll in VA health care, and enrollment is what opens the door to the clinical home care programs.10Veterans Affairs. Apply for VA Health Care It asks for your dates of active duty, discharge status, and income for you, your spouse, and any dependents. Those income figures set your copay level and your priority group.
If you are already enrolled and just need to update financial, insurance, or service information, use Form 10-10EZR instead.11Veterans Affairs. About VA Form 10-10EZ
Form 21-2680 for Aid and Attendance
Form 21-2680, the Examination for Housebound Status or Aid and Attendance, is what you file to add Aid and Attendance to a pension claim. A licensed medical professional, not you, fills out the examination section, documenting your functional limitations, vision, mobility, and ability to manage medications, and certifying whether you are housebound or need another person’s help for basic daily functions.12Veterans Affairs. About VA Form 21-2680 Ask your physician to complete the form recently enough that it reflects your current condition. If you are in a nursing home, you also need Form 21-0779.13Veterans Affairs. VA Aid and Attendance Benefits and Housebound Allowance
Supporting Documents
Gather these before you submit:
- Your DD Form 214 discharge papers, which verify length of service and character of discharge. When you apply for VA benefits, the VA will request your DD-214 for you after it receives your application; you do not need to order it separately from the National Archives.14National Archives. DD Form 214 Discharge Papers and Separation Documents15Veterans Affairs. Request Your Military Service Records Including DD214
- Recent tax returns or Social Security statements to verify income for any needs-based pension claim.
- Medical evidence, including the completed Form 21-2680 and any records that support the functional limitations described in it.
How to Submit
You can apply online or by mail, and the mailing address depends on the form.
For Form 10-10EZ, sign in at VA.gov with a verified account and submit online, or mail the completed form to the Health Eligibility Center, PO Box 5207, Janesville, WI 53547-5207.10Veterans Affairs. Apply for VA Health Care Online filing is generally faster and gives you an immediate confirmation. If you mail it, certified mail with return receipt gives you proof of the submission date.
For the Aid and Attendance package, you can apply online at VA.gov or mail the completed forms to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Claims Intake Center, PO Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444.16Veterans Affairs. How to File a VA Disability Claim13Veterans Affairs. VA Aid and Attendance Benefits and Housebound Allowance If any pages are missing or unreadable, the intake center may return the package and delay processing by weeks. Send everything together rather than piecemeal.
What Happens After You File
Once your application is in, a social worker at your local VA Medical Center reviews the clinical evidence to decide what level of home care you need. If you applied for Aid and Attendance, the VA may schedule a Compensation and Pension exam, an appointment where a VA-contracted examiner verifies the limitations described in your paperwork.
Processing times depend on how you filed. As of February 2026, fully developed claims, where all evidence is submitted upfront, averaged about 89 days, while other claims averaged roughly 81 days.17Veterans Benefits Administration. Fully Developed Claims You receive a decision letter explaining what was approved and what services or payments were authorized.
If Your Claim Is Denied
Under the Appeals Modernization Act, you have three ways to challenge a denial.18Veterans Benefits Administration. Appeals Modernization
A Supplemental Claim lets you add new and relevant evidence the VA did not have the first time. There is no strict deadline, but filing sooner preserves your effective date.19Veterans Affairs. Supplemental Claims This is the right path if you have new medical records or a new physician’s statement.
A Higher-Level Review sends the same file to a more senior reviewer. You cannot add evidence, but you can request an informal conference, a phone call where you or your representative point out factual or legal errors in the original decision.20Veterans Affairs. What Is an Informal Conference and How Do I Ask for One This is the fastest path when you think the VA misread evidence already in the file.
A Board of Veterans’ Appeals review takes your case to a Veterans Law Judge. You pick one of three lanes: Direct Review (no new evidence, no hearing, decision goal of 365 days), Evidence Submission (new evidence, no hearing), or Hearing (appear before the judge, with the option to submit new evidence at or within 90 days of the hearing).21Veterans Affairs. Board Appeals
Surviving Spouses and Family Caregivers
Two related benefits often get grouped with “home care” but have their own applications.
A surviving spouse of a wartime veteran may qualify for the Survivors Pension, which can include the Aid and Attendance increase. You must not have remarried after the veteran’s death. The veteran must have served at least 90 days of active duty with at least one day during a wartime period if they entered service on or before September 7, 1980; veterans who entered after that date generally needed at least 24 months of active service, and the veteran’s discharge must have been other than dishonorable.22Veterans Affairs. Survivors Pension The same $163,699 net worth limit and 36-month look-back apply.6Veterans Affairs. Current Pension Rates for Veterans
If you are a family member providing the care, the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) pays a monthly stipend to the caregiver and provides health insurance through CHAMPVA, mental health counseling, and training.23VA Caregiver Support Program. Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers The veteran must have a service-connected condition rated at 70 percent or higher (single or combined) and need in-person personal care for at least six continuous months, either because they cannot perform daily activities, need supervision from neurological impairment, or need regular instruction without which daily functioning would be seriously impaired. Needing help only some of the time does not meet the threshold; the veteran must require assistance each time they perform the activity.24VA Caregiver Support Program. PCAFC Eligibility Criteria Factsheet Apply through your local VA medical center’s Caregiver Support Coordinator or online at VA.gov.