Maine Veterans' Homes

Maine Veterans' Homes operates six homes: Augusta, Bangor, Caribou, Machias, Scarborough and South Paris. They provide long-term and short-term skilled nursing care, rehabilitation and therapy services. Six is the number to check rather than assume. In 2021 the organisation announced the closure of the Caribou and Machias homes, the two that serve Aroostook and Washington counties, and the decision drew sustained public and legislative opposition. Both homes are open and both appear on the operator's own list of locations. A veteran or family in northern or eastern Maine who heard about the closures and concluded the nearest home was hours further away should look again. Eligibility reaches honorably discharged veterans who are Maine residents at entry or at application. Spouses, surviving spouses and Gold Star parents may be admitted if space is available, which makes these homes usable by a couple rather than only by the veteran. Maine Veterans' Homes is a chartered organisation rather than a bureau of state government, so admission runs through the homes rather than through the Bureau of Veterans' Services. Applications start with a request for an application for admission through the organisation, and each home has its own contact. No disability rating is required for admission, so a rating filter never hides this entry. A rating does change the money. VA pays a per diem for eligible veterans in a state home, and a veteran with a service-connected disability rated at 70 per cent or more may have their care in a state home paid by VA at a higher rate under federal rules. That is a federal question to put to VA and to the home's admissions staff together, because the answer determines what the family pays. A veteran considering a home should ask three questions early: whether the home has a bed in the level of care needed, what the VA per diem and any service-connected contribution will cover, and what the private-pay or MaineCare balance will be. Those answers move, and they move by home.