Nursing home care for vets 101

The Veteran’s Health Administration (VHA) provides nursing home services to veterans through three national programs: VA owned and operated nursing homes, state veterans homes owned and operated by states and community nursing programs.

VA nursing homes typically admit residents requiring short-term skilled care or those who have a 70 percent or greater service connected disability.

The Virginia Veterans Care Center (VVCC) in Roanoke is a state-of-the-art model for long-term health care and until recently, the only state home for veterans in the Commonwealth of Virginia. VVCC’s mission is to provide nursing and domiciliary care to Commonwealth of Virginia residents who are admitted to the VVCC, who are aged, infirm and are honorably discharged veterans of the United States armed forces.

Admission criteria in a state veteran’s home program, as stated in the 2008 Edition Federal Benefits for Veterans and Dependents, requires that a resident be medically stable, meaning not acutely ill, but have sufficient functional deficits to require inpatient nursing home care, and has been assessed by an appropriate medical provider to be in need of institutional nursing home care. The veteran must also meet required VA eligibility criteria for nursing home care or the contract nursing home program and the eligibility criteria for the specific state veterans home.

The VVCC in Roanoke has 240 beds and is conveniently located near the Salem VA Medical Center. For information call (540) 982-2860, ext 4108.

In 2007, the Sitter-Barfoot veterans care center, a 160-bed skilled care facility, opened on the grounds of McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond. For information call (804) 840-7573.

The term “nursing home care” includes intermediate care and means the accommodation of convalescents. The term includes intensive care where nursing service is under the supervision of a registered professional nurse.

Nursing home care in a VA facility may be provided to those veterans authorized mandatory medical care without co-payment, and to those veterans authorized discretionary hospital care if they agree to a co-payment. Nursing home care may also be provided to the spouse, widow or gold star parents of a veteran.

VA is authorized to transfer any veteran who has received care in a VA Medical Center or VA-sponsored care in a federal or private hospital to any public or private institution, which furnishes nursing home care, if the cost does not exceed 45 percent of the general hospital per diem. The VA pays about 35 percent of room and board and nursing services. Accordingly, veterans pay substantially less than the typical charges in the private sector. Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance coverage, if applicable, are acceptable under the state veteran’s home programs.

For more detailed information, contact the VA at (800) 827-1000 or the service officer for DAV Chapter 8 and VFW Post 8184. The office, 2337 Lakeside Drive, is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays for walk-ins and by appointment on Thursdays. For more information call (434) 316-0229.

This article was based in part on information in the 2008 edition of Federal Benefits for Veterans and Dependents published by Department of Veterans Affairs and from the Virginia Department of Veterans Affairs Web site.