There are several acronyms used in aged care terminology and one that confuses many people is DVA. The term DVA stands for Department of Veteran Affairs.
What is the Department of Veteran Affairs?
In relation to aged care, the Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA) is an Australian Government agency. They provide and support and information for veterans and their dependants, as well as war widowers, generally in the form of pensions and allowances – as well as other ancillary services.
What has DVA got to do with aged care?
When entering aged care, a persons income and assets are assessed. The outcome of the assessment can affect the level of aged care fees that they will pay. Therefore, a recipient on a DVA pension, entitlement, or other payment will need to be disclosed during the aged care fee assessment.
Only those in receipt of a DVA benefit will need to be concerned with disclosure of DVA entitlements.
Because DVA payments are mostly assessed for aged care purposes, you should consider aged care financial planning strategies in order to reduce the impact on the daily costs of nursing home care.
The disclosure of all income and assets by a person moving into an aged care nursing home is one of the steps required in moving someone into a care home.
How do I know if I receive DVA benefits?
DVA should be keeping in regular contact with you about your payments or entitlements.
Generally, if you are a Centrelink Age Pension recipient, you will not be a DVA entitlement recipient. It is usually one or the other.
If you are unsure of whether or not you are or should be a DVA benefit recipient, you should contact the DVA on 133 254.
If you have any concerns about aged care call us on 1300 944 011 to speak to an expert aged care consultant.
Hi, I hope you found this article useful.
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Thanks - Shane
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