As veterans get older, expenses start to add up. Especially nursing home care, when all they really need is some help at home. So now, one Missoula pilot program that does that is expanding to other parts of Montana.
It helps people like Eugene Hertz. He’s an 83-year-old Korean War veteran. He’s got a bad back, and his doctors don’t want him doing very much because of it. That really gets on his nerves, and means that his wife Joann has to do a lot of the housework.
But, at age 80, it’s hard for Joann to get around now, too. Especially in their two-story house, with the washing machine in the basement.
“Because I was hanging onto the banister all the way down and then I’d have something over my arm and I’d need the one hand to get up," says Joann.
So their daughter recommended they contact Missoula Aging Services.
They enrolled them in a first of its kind program in Montana designed to put vets and their families in charge of home care.
The idea is that it saves the VA money by keeping people out of nursing homes. Typically that costs about $6,000 to $8,000 a month, and it only costs the VA $1,500 to $3,000 a month to keep the care in home, less than half as much.
“I do not know what I would do without it," Joann says. "I would be out of my mind because it was overwhelming before they showed up and we were able to get into the program, it was like a weight slid off of my back.”
Eugene, who was a mechanic in the Army, hates not being able to do everything for himself anymore, but he’s thinking about more than just himself.
“I worry about Mother because she has to do a lot of extra work because they wont let me do nothing," he says. "She takes care of me and the Aging Service takes care of Mother. We got our own group,” he laughs.
The gal they hired works for Missoula Aging Services and visits Joann and Eugene based on a budget that’s determined from their income. She helps with personal care, household chores and takes them to appointments. The program also provides emergency response services and even home repair and remodeling. Joann and Eugene used those benefits too- in their bathroom.
“We were so afraid of him falling when stepping over the tub into the shower and then showering and getting back out and that sort of thing," Joann says.
With the remodel he has a walk-in shower and Joann doesn’t have to be there as much.
“I hate being dependent on her because I know I can do it," Eugene says.
But Joann says even though Eugene insists he doesn’t want the help, it works for her.
“They helped with things around the house," she says. "They’ll even do cooking, but I prefer to do that myself. And we’ve had a little bit of that. They’ll make him eggs and bacon or something in the morning because I don’t want to. I’ve got other things I should be doing."
Twenty-seven other states, plus the District of Columbia, also offer vets assistance at home.
Missoula’s program extends to Ravalli county and started in 2012. The VA announced it’s expanding it to Billings, where it will offer help to 45 more vets over the next two years.
