Texas State Veterans Homes

The Veterans Land Board owns and operates ten Texas State Veterans Homes: Amarillo, Big Spring, Bonham, El Paso, Floresville, Fort Worth, Houston, McAllen, Temple, and Tyler. They are state-owned skilled nursing facilities regulated by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and admission is governed by Title 40 of the Texas Administrative Code alongside VA medical, financial, and military service criteria. What distinguishes them from a commercial nursing home is the staff training. The homes give staff specialized training on the military experience and on post-traumatic stress, which matters in a setting where residents are being cared for in ways that can trigger it. The homes offer physical, occupational, and speech therapy, and also equine, art, music, and pet therapy. Rooms are private or semi-private, and several homes have dedicated memory care units. Cost is the part worth understanding. VA pays the home a per diem for each eligible veteran resident, which is why the daily out-of-pocket rate sits well below the commercial average, and the veteran's medications are included. Above that, the Land Office states that a veteran with a 70% or higher service-related disability can generally live in the homes for free. That 70% threshold comes from the federal rule under which VA pays the full cost of nursing home care for a veteran who needs it for a service-connected disability, or who is rated 70% or more. Who may be admitted. 40 Texas Administrative Code 176.7: a veteran (as defined for the Board's loans in 175.2(c)(1): 90 days of active duty or active duty training, initial training completed in the Guard or reserves, or 20 years toward retirement, with a discharge that is not dishonorable and the Texas residence the rule sets) who meets VA's requirements for nursing home care and falls in one of VA's categories, such as a service-connected disability, former prisoner of war status, or inability to defray the cost of care; a spouse or surviving spouse at least 18 who has lived in Texas continuously for a year before applying; and "a parent, all of whose children died while serving in the armed forces", with the same year of residence. A veteran in an out-of-state nursing home may transfer in. The Board may set priorities, including a veteran over a spouse or parent and VA's rule that 75% of residents be veterans. A spouse or parent does not draw the VA per diem, so the rate is different. Apply to the individual home. The Land Office publishes the admission application and a room rate breakdown, and 1-800-252-8387 reaches the Veterans Land Board.