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Veterans Benefits for Nursing Home Care

The VA provides nursing home accommodations and other long-term care also called “extended care”, for many veterans.

Who is eligible for VA nursing home benefits?

Those eligible for VA nursing home or noninstitutional long-term care include:

• Veterans with a service-connected disability rating (or combined disability ratings) of 70 percent or higher.
• Veterans with a 60 percent service-connected disability rating who are unemployable, or who have a rating of “permanently and totally disabled.”
• Veterans with a service-connected disability that is clinically determined to require nursing home care.
• Veterans who require nursing home care for any nonservice-connected disability and who meet income and asset criteria.
• Other veterans, on a case-by-case basis, with priority given to those with service-connected disabilities and those who need care for post-acute rehabilitation, respite, hospice, geriatric evaluation and management, or spinal cord injury.

What nursing home benefits are available from the VA?

The Department of Veterans’ Affairs provides long-term nursing home care through different types of facilities. There are the VA’s own nursing homes, and there are private nursing homes (called “community nursing homes” in VA language) that contract with the VA to care for veterans when no nearVA facility is available. There are also the VA’s Community Living Centers, which provide short-term residential care along with ongoing outpatient care. And the VA pays a small part of the cost of residence in State Veterans Homes for some veterans who are not eligible for direct VA nursing home care.

Eligible veterans may qualify for residence in a VA nursing home if they have physical and/or mental impairment serious enough to require nursing home care. If there is no VA nursing home close to the veteran’s home and family, or there are no available spaces in a nearVA nursing home, the VA may pay for a veteran to reside in a nearprivate nursing home if that facility has a contract with the VA to provide care to veterans.

Community Living Centers are another type of VA long-term care facility. They provide a combination of short-term residential care options similar to assisted living and ongoing community care to veterans with chronic, but stable conditions, including:

• Dementia or Alzheimer’s disease
• Conditions requiring rehabilitation or short-term special services such as respite or intravenous therapy
• Conditions requiring hospice or other palliative care at the end of life

Most Community Living Centers provide short-term rehabilitative or end-of-life care for up to 100 days. They can also provide longer-term care for veterans who require prolonged rehabilitation, are unable to obtain a place in a community nursing home, or otherwise lack a clinically appropriate community alternative.

What do VA long-term care services cost for veterans?

For extended care services, veterans may be subject to a co-payment of up to $97 per day. The amount of the co-payment depends on the veteran’s VA health system priority group and individual financial circumstances, and also on the type of care or service provided. The amount of co-payment for extended care services is based on income, and for some services, co-pay amounts are based on the assets held both the veteran and the veteran’s spouse.

For extended care services expected to last 180 days or less, the VA looks only at the income of the veteran and spouse, taking into account the veteran’s expenses. For extended care services expected to last 181 days or longer (such as residence in a nursing home), the VA looks at the income and the assets of the veteran and spouse. Details of these financial calculations are available from the VA’s publication “VA Copays and Charges”.

How do I apply for VA long-term care benefits?

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