Fort Carson, Peterson and Academy Families: Paying for Senior Care With VA, TRICARE and Pensions

What TRICARE For Life covers, and what it does not

For Medicare-eligible retirees with Parts A and B, TRICARE For Life is secondary coverage that pays what Medicare does not for Medicare-covered care. That includes the daily coinsurance for days 21 to 100 of a skilled nursing stay after a qualifying hospital admission. It does not pay for custodial care in assisted living, a nursing home or at home.

Keep Part B. Dropping it ends TRICARE For Life coverage, and re-enrolling later can carry penalties and gaps.

VA pension with Aid and Attendance

VA pension is a needs-based benefit for wartime veterans and surviving spouses with limited income and assets. Aid and Attendance raises the maximum annual pension rate for someone who needs help with daily activities, and unreimbursed care costs reduce countable income, so assisted living fees can turn a small pension into a meaningful monthly payment.

VA pension rates in effect December 1, 2025 through November 30, 2026.

Why many retirees do not qualify, and many widows do

A retired officer's pension often puts a veteran over the income line once care costs are counted against it. Surviving spouses are a different story: a widow living on a Survivor Benefit Plan annuity and Social Security may qualify for survivors pension with Aid and Attendance even though her husband never did.

A veteran with a service-connected disability rating should ask about an increase or special monthly compensation instead of pension. County veterans service officers file these claims at no charge; avoid anyone who charges for an initial claim or proposes moving assets to qualify, since VA reviews transfers over the prior three years.

Building the whole plan

Most military families combine several sources: retired pay and Social Security, savings or home equity, VA pension where eligible, long-term care insurance for those who bought it, and Health First Colorado if money runs out. Colorado's ACFs take EBD waiver residents at $810.00 a month in room and board, which can make a VA pension plus Social Security go further.

A checklist for military families

Gather the DD-214, marriage and death certificates, the latest retired pay and Survivor Benefit Plan statements, Social Security award letters, TRICARE and Medicare cards, and any long-term care insurance policy. Those documents answer most questions a veterans service officer, a residence or a Medicaid caseworker will ask.

Ask whether any member of the family bought long-term care insurance while in service or federal employment; policies bought years ago are easy to forget. Check whether the policy requires a licensed agency or residence and how long its elimination period is before benefits start.

When Health First Colorado becomes part of the plan

Some retirees reach the point where savings are gone and income is below Colorado's long-term care limit of $2,982 a month. Health First Colorado can then pay nursing home care or EBD waiver services, and military retired pay counts as income like any other pension. A spouse at home is protected by the community spouse resource allowance of up to $162,660 in 2026.

Planning early keeps choices open. An elder law attorney familiar with military and VA benefits can coordinate pension, Survivor Benefit Plan and Medicaid rules in one meeting.

Using the base and the VA together

Retirees in El Paso County can use military treatment facilities for some care on a space-available basis and fill many prescriptions through TRICARE pharmacy programs, while enrolled veterans receive VA care through the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System's Colorado Springs clinics. Neither the base nor the VA clinic is a long-term care provider, but both have social workers who know the local residences and agencies. Ask them for names, then check each residence's CDPHE record on our pages before touring.