PLI: Better Serving Older or Disabled Veterans: A Special Session on the Intersections between Veterans Benefits, Social Security, and Medicaid (Free Webcast)

The Practising Law Institute is offering a free webcast of a live presentation from San Francisco entitled. Better Serving Older or Disabled Veterans: A Special Session on the Intersections between Veterans Benefits, Social Security, and Medicaid on December 18, 2017 from 12:00 pm - 3:30 pm Eastern.

Well over one-half of the American Veteran population is elderly or disabled and entitled to a wide-range of government benefits— from income to health care to in-home services. These benefits can help a veteran and their family stave off poverty, prolong independence, and receive the supportive services they need to thrive.  Yet, while many elder law, disability rights, and benefits practitioners are versed in Social Security and Medicaid, few attorneys are aware of how these benefits intersect with benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

As part of PLI’s Advocating for Veterans series, this free half-day session will empower practitioners with the tools they need to maximize their Veteran clients’ income and well-being, and to better meet their health care and long-term needs.  More specifically, expert veterans and government benefits attorneys will provide practitioners with an in-depth understanding of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ lesser known Non-Service-Connected Pension benefit and break down the interplay between VA Benefits, Social Security benefits, Medicaid, and In-Home Supportive Services.

What You Will Learn

• How to determine whether a Veteran is eligible for VA Non-Service-Connected Pension, including how to reduce a Veteran’s countable income in order to ensure entitlement and maximize income
• How VA Benefits and Social Security benefits intersect, including how they offset one another, the main differences between VA Non-Service-Connected Pension and SSI, and the impact of VA Non-Service-Connected Pension on SSI
• How to prolong a Veteran’s independence by using VA Non-Service-Connected Pension with or without In-Home Supportive Services to pay for in-home care and assisted living
• How to expand a Veteran’s long-term care options using VA Benefits, Medicaid, and In Home Supportive Services

Who Should Attend

• Attorneys and advocates that work with or are interested in serving American Veterans will benefit from this program. 
• Elder law, disability rights advocates, and government benefits advocates may find the session particularly applicable to their practice areas.

• IMPORTANT! If you are a VA-accredited attorney and have already completed the VA’s initial CLE requirement, this program may satisfy the VA’s continuing CLE requirement to maintain accreditation. 

1. Within 12 months after accreditation, you are required to complete three hours of qualifying CLE. This program does not satisfy that initial CLE requirement.  However, PLI offers another free program that does meet the initial CLE requirement: Advocating for Veterans: The Basics on VA Benefits, Discharge Upgrades and Veteran Cultural Competency 2017
    
2. Once an attorney has completed their initial CLE requirement, the VA requires ongoing CLE to maintain accreditation. This program does satisfy the VA’s CLE requirement that accredited attorneys complete an additional three hours of CLE not later than 3 years from the date of initial accreditation and every 2 years thereafter. 
    
3.  Attorneys and other advocates who become accredited will be listed on a national VA list, and are entitled to represent veterans in their claims for benefits, on a pro bono basis, and for attorney’s fees on appeals, where they are available.
    
4. For additional information, please see the FAQ page on the VA’s Office of General Counsel website.

• Pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 14.629(b)(1)(iii) and (iv), To maintain accreditation, agents and attorneys are required to complete an additional 3 hours of qualifying CLE on veterans benefits law and procedure not later than 3 years from the date of initial accreditation and every 2 years thereafter. To qualify under this subsection, a CLE course must be approved for a minimum of 3 hours of CLE credit by any State bar association and, at a minimum, must cover the following topics:

• representation before VA,
• claims procedures,
• basic eligibility for VA benefits,
• right to appeal,
• disability compensation (38 U.S.C. Chapter 11),
• dependency and indemnity compensation (38 U.S.C. Chapter 13), and
• pension (38 U.S.C. Chapter 15).

More Information and Registration