Find out where you stand with the VA.
Answer a few questions about the veteran's situation. We will tell you which VA home-care programs are likely to apply, where you are in the process, and exactly what to do next.
Step one is VA health care enrollment.
VA home-care programs are only available to veterans enrolled in VA health care. Enrollment is the gate everything else passes through, and many veterans qualify who assume they do not.
First, confirm the enrollment status.
Everything after this depends on whether the veteran is enrolled in VA health care. It takes one phone call to find out, and we can make it with you.
You need a VA assessment and a referral.
The veteran is enrolled, so the next move is asking the VA care team for a home-care evaluation. The VA does not offer it automatically — in most cases a family has to ask.
Your referral is in. Now it needs to move.
A submitted referral still has to clear authorization before care can begin. Referrals that get followed up on tend to move faster.
You are approved. Next comes choosing a provider.
With an authorization in hand, the veteran chooses which network agency delivers the care. Avara is a VA Community Care Network provider in Maricopa and Pinal County, and veterans are welcome to request us.
The VA home-care path, start to finish
VA Form 10-10EZ, applied online, by phone or in person. Discharge papers (DD-214) and income information speed it up.
A VA social worker or the primary care team evaluates what help the veteran needs at home and which program fits.
The VA issues an authorization covering a set number of hours over a set period, routed to a community provider.
The veteran chooses an approved agency, a care plan is set, and the VA is billed directly for authorized hours.
What to do next
Apply online at va.gov/health-care/apply, or call the VA enrollment line at 877-222-8387. It is VA Form 10-10EZ, and it can be done in one sitting.
Discharge paperwork (DD-214), Social Security numbers for the veteran and dependents, and current insurance and income information.
Enrollment can take weeks. Some families arrange private-pay care in the meantime. We can explain how that works if it is useful.
The VA enrollment line is 877-222-8387. Have the veteran's Social Security number ready. You can also sign in at va.gov to see enrollment status.
Ask for the name of the assigned VA medical center and social worker. That is the person who starts a home-care referral.
VA Form 10-10EZ at va.gov/health-care/apply opens the door to every program below.
Call the veteran's VA medical center and ask for the social work service or the primary care team. Say plainly: we need an evaluation for in-home care, and ask which program the veteran qualifies for.
Assessments hinge on specifics: falls, help needed with bathing or transfers, hours the family is covering, nights without sleep. Write them down before the call.
Veterans are free to choose any approved community provider. If you would like Avara Care At-Home, you may request us by name when the referral is written. Our help with the VA process is free either way.
Call the social worker who submitted it and ask for the consult or referral number, the date submitted, and whether it has gone to community care.
If the referral has not yet been assigned, the veteran may ask that Avara be listed as the requested provider. This is optional, and the veteran can choose any approved agency.
If it helps, share the social worker's name and the VA medical center, and our VA liaison can help you understand where the referral stands, at no charge.
It lists the approved service, the number of hours, and the date range. That tells us what we can schedule and when it needs renewing.
The choice of community provider is the veteran's. If you choose Avara, let the social worker know and we will take the paperwork from there. Our guidance through this process is a free service, whichever provider you choose.
A care coordinator visits, builds the plan around the authorized hours, and matches a caregiver. Authorized hours are billed to the VA directly, not to the family.
Programs that look like a fit
Based on the help you described. A VA clinician makes the final determination.
Home Health Aide and Homemaker Program (HHA/HM)
The VA's main route to hands-on help at home for veterans who need assistance with daily activities. The VA arranges it through community agencies and pays for the authorized hours.
Respite Care
Temporary care relief for the veteran's full-time family caregiver, at home. Requested through the same VA social worker.
Community Care Network
How the VA pays an outside agency to deliver care it cannot provide directly. Avara is an approved network provider, so authorized hours are billed to the VA rather than to the family.
Private care while VA benefits are sorted out
Enrollment and authorization take time. Some families arrange private-pay hours while waiting for approval. Long-term care insurance may cover this stretch.
We serve Maricopa and Pinal County. If the veteran lives elsewhere in Arizona, call us anyway — the VA steps above are the same everywhere, and we will point you to a network provider in that area.
Avara serves Arizona only, so we cannot deliver the care ourselves. The VA steps above apply nationwide, and any VA social worker can point you to a Community Care Network agency near the veteran.
Thank you — your answers are with our VA liaison.
Someone will call you back today to go through the next steps with you. There is no cost and no obligation. To talk now, call (888) 912-2224.
Call (888) 912-2224Want us to walk it through with you?
Send your answers to our VA liaison. We will call you back today, tell you what the VA will likely say, and help make the calls if you want the help.
This guide is provided by Avara Care At-Home to help families understand the VA process. It is not an official VA eligibility determination. Only the Department of Veterans Affairs can decide whether a veteran qualifies for enrollment, a home-care program, or community care, and program rules and copays can change.