Veterans Homes of California

CalVet operates eight veterans homes: Barstow, Chula Vista, Fresno, Lancaster, Redding, Ventura, West Los Angeles, and Yountville. Levels of care run from a domiciliary program, which is independent living with housing, meals, activities, and minimal supervision, through assisted living and memory care to 24-hour skilled nursing. Not every home offers every level, so the level of care a veteran needs narrows which homes are options. Military and Veterans Code section 1012 sets admission. An applicant has to be an aged or disabled person who served in the armed forces, has to have been discharged or released from active duty under conditions other than dishonorable, has to be eligible for health care, hospitalization or domiciliary care in a VA facility under VA's rules, and has to be a bona fide resident of California at the time of application (sections 1012.4, 1023 and 1023.1 make exceptions). CalVet's application page puts it as "55 years or older, homeless, or disabled", "A California resident", and "Covered under a medical insurance policy". Section 1012 also sets the priority order. Medal of Honor recipients and former prisoners of war "shall be given priority over all other qualified veterans". Veterans rated 70% or more service-connected disabled "may be given priority" over the rest, and the secretary may set needs-based criteria whose veterans may be given priority over those who can afford their own care elsewhere; wartime service may be given priority over peacetime service. A veteran already on a waiting list as of January 1, 2018 is not subject to the 70% and needs-based rules. A spouse or domestic partner can be admitted when space allows and the couple will live together under the department's rules. That person has to be a bona fide California resident and has to be married to, and have resided with, the veteran applicant for at least one year, or be the surviving spouse or partner of a Medal of Honor recipient or a former prisoner of war; CalVet requires a joint application, and a spouse whose veteran is denied cannot be admitted alone. A member spouse or partner may stay on after the veteran's death while paying the fees. Members pay a monthly fee set as a share of income rather than at a market rate, and the share differs by level of care. The percentages are set by regulation and change, so get the current fee schedule from CalVet or the home itself before budgeting. A 70% rating is a priority factor, not an admission requirement.