Wisconsin Veterans Homes

Wisconsin operates three veterans homes under subchapter V of chapter 45: the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King, at Union Grove, and at Chippewa Falls. Residents are called members rather than patients, which reflects the statute's origins. Who is eligible, under 45.51(2)(a), is three groups: a veteran as chapter 45 defines the word; a person who served on active duty under honorable conditions for 90 days or more with at least one day during a war period or under executive order 10957; and the spouse, surviving spouse or parent of such a person, or a parent of someone who died in service. A veteran or 90-day wartime member must then satisfy four further conditions. They must be permanently incapacitated by physical disability or age from any substantially gainful occupation. They must not have been convicted of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude, or if so must have produced sufficient evidence of subsequent good conduct and reformation of character to satisfy the department. They must provide a complete financial statement, and the department may discharge a member who later refuses to provide financial information. And their care needs must be ones the home can meet within its allocated resources. The felony bar is unusual in being expressly rebuttable. Several state homes in this catalog bar a felony conviction outright; Wisconsin invites evidence of reformation. Residency is the provision most worth knowing and it runs the opposite way from most states. Section 45.51(6m) says in terms that a person does not have to be a resident of this state on the date of application for membership. Alaska requires a continuous year and Kansas requires two; Wisconsin requires none. What residency does instead is set priority. Within each eligibility category, a person who is a Wisconsin resident on the application date and has resided continuously in the state for more than six months has first priority; a resident of six months or less has second; a non-resident has third. So an out-of-state veteran can apply and be admitted, and will wait longer. The categories themselves are ranked: veterans and 90-day wartime members first, their spouses second, surviving spouses third, parents fourth. Surviving spouses and parents are not admitted at all unless a home's overall occupancy is below an optimal level set by the board. The department may deviate from the sequence on the board's order to prevent the separation of a married couple. Additional conditions attach to family members. A spouse must have lived with the member for at least six months immediately before applying, with separation for employment, hospitalisation or disability not counting as an interruption. A surviving spouse must not have remarried, must be 45 or over, must be physically disabled, and must be unable to care for themselves and lack adequate means of support. A parent must be 60 or over on similar terms. Members pay. Billing is within 30 days, interest of one percent a month may be assessed on a late bill, and non-payment after 60 days may result in discharge. Payment is made so far as possible from sources other than VA pension or compensation, and a member is not required to spend income earned in the home's work therapy programme or hobby shop on their own care.