Mrs. Manning Asks,

My 78yr old husband…is a 28yr vet. He’s developed Parkinson’s disease , I his 73 yr old wife have serious health issues as well. He needs home health care. We’ve called the Vet affairs office only to be told he could not get help because he had no record of illness while in service. Is there anywhere we can get home help for him?

Hello Mrs. Manning,

Sorry for the late reply. VETS.COM is in the process of being built and, excuses aside, some questions are more difficult to answer and to make time to do research.

Unfortunately, even now I don’t have an adequate answer and I’ve searched for the answer to this question on several occasions over the past year hoping to respond with a solid solution.

In short, it is quite possible that there is no disability program offered through the VA for later development Parkinson’s Disease that is not service connected. Although, there is a pension program that you might qualify for depending on several factors such as age, income, and time of service. 

You can determine eligibility for this pension program by visiting the VA website here:

https://www.va.gov/pension/eligibility/

Whether you can or cannot determine if he is able to receive some kind of pension, I would still highly recommend visiting, calling, or emailing your local accredited VSO (Veterans Service Organization). They can guide you through all of your options with a deeper knowledge of how to navigate the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and other Veteran benefit programs.

I recently learned about the VSO through the VFW and will hopefully work with them soon.

You can find your local accredited VSO through the VA at:

https://www.va.gov/ogc/apps/accreditation/index.asp

Other than that I can only speculate on what else is possible and I hope that there is still time to help.

-Specialist Carroll-