Arkansas State Veterans Homes: Who Qualifies, Cost, How to Apply

A veteran rated 70% or more by VA gets admissions priority at an Arkansas State Veterans Home.1 If he needs nursing home care and the home has a State home care agreement with VA, VA's payment for that care is payment in full under 38 U.S.C. 1745.2

The Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs (ADVA) operates Arkansas's two State Veterans Homes, one in Fayetteville and one in North Little Rock, and lists skilled nursing care around the clock, hospice care, therapy and a licensed clinical social worker among their services.3 ADVA's written admissions rule says a veteran qualifies for an Arkansas State Veterans Home at 18 or older with a need for long-term healthcare services.1 Here is what ADVA's rule and VA's payment rules say about the two questions families lie awake over: whether Dad will get in, and what the family will owe.

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• Arkansas's Two State Veterans Homes
• Who Qualifies for an Arkansas State Veterans Home?
• Who ADVA's Rule Keeps Out
• Can a Spouse or Gold Star Parent Move In?
• What an Arkansas State Veterans Home Costs
• When VA Pays the Whole Bill
• How to Apply, Step by Step
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

Arkansas's Two State Veterans Homes

State Veterans Homes are owned, operated and managed by state governments, not by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA certifies each State Veterans Home, surveys it every year, and leaves eligibility and admission rules to the state.5 In Arkansas the state agency is ADVA, which operates two State Veterans Homes, one in Fayetteville and one in North Little Rock.3

The bed counts, counties and phone numbers above come from the Arkansas Department of Human Services facility directory entries for the two homes, and the email addresses from the U.S. Army's MyArmyBenefits page for Arkansas, which also lists the phones.4 The Arkansas Department of Human Services classifies each Arkansas State Veterans Home as a skilled nursing facility owned by Arkansas state government.4 Licensed beds are a home's size, not its openings, so the table can't tell you whether a bed is free this month.

ADVA lists these services at the Arkansas State Veterans Homes: RN, LPN and CNA skilled care around the clock, an on-site medical director, hospice care, physical, occupational and speech therapy, daily activities run by a certified activities director, and a licensed clinical social worker.3 ADVA's service list centers on skilled nursing, so if your parent has dementia, ask the admissions staff how the Arkansas home would care for him before you apply. For the wider set of VA benefits an older Arkansas veteran can use, see our guide to VA senior care benefits in Arkansas, and for how state homes work nationally, see how State Veterans Homes work.

Who Qualifies for an Arkansas State Veterans Home?

It's natural to worry that one detail from decades ago, a discharge code or a short enlistment, will shut the door. ADVA's rules are more specific than the three lines on its website, and knowing them lets you ask the right question up front.

ADVA's Veteran Homes page lists two criteria for admission to an Arkansas State Veterans Home: an honorable discharge and a medical need for nursing home placement.3 ADVA's written rule, "State Veterans Home Admissions," says a veteran qualifies for admission to an Arkansas State Veterans Home when all three of these are true:1

1. Veteran status. The veteran meets the definition the rule takes from 38 U.S.C. 4211(4), which ADVA's rule lists as more than 180 days of active duty ending in other than a dishonorable discharge; a discharge from active duty because of a service-connected disability; reserve-component service on active-duty orders during a war or a campaign with a campaign badge, ending in other than a dishonorable discharge; or at least 20 years in the National Guard or a reserve component with retirement eligibility.
2. Age. The veteran is at least 18 years old.
3. Need for care. The veteran needs long-term healthcare services.

There's a wording gap worth catching early. ADVA's website says "honorable discharge," while ADVA's admissions rule uses the federal phrase "other than a dishonorable discharge."1 If your father's DD-214 shows a general discharge or anything other than honorable, call ADVA at 501-683-2382 and ask which standard the Arkansas State Veterans Homes apply to his record before you give up.1

Priority matters when beds are scarce. Under ADVA's admissions rule, a veteran with a VA disability rating of 70% or greater is given priority in admission to the Arkansas State Veterans Homes.1 Ask each Arkansas State Veterans Home whether it gives Arkansas residents any priority, and where your parent would stand on its list once the application is in.

Who ADVA's Rule Keeps Out

ADVA's admissions rule says two groups of veterans are ineligible to live in the Arkansas State Veterans Homes:1

• Veterans who appear on any sex offender registry.
• Veterans with felony convictions.

ADVA's rule states the felony exclusion in four words, "Veterans with felony convictions," so if your parent has a conviction on his record, raise it with ADVA's admissions staff before you apply to an Arkansas State Veterans Home, and start looking at other nursing homes in Arkansas at the same time so the family isn't left with no plan.1

Can a Spouse or Gold Star Parent Move In?

Often the hardest part of this decision is the thought of splitting up a couple after fifty years. ADVA says veterans, veterans' spouses and Gold Star parents may apply for admission to the Arkansas State Veterans Homes.3 Ask ADVA how many beds at each Arkansas State Veterans Home are open to a spouse or Gold Star parent, and whether one is free now.

Money works differently for a spouse. VA pays State Veterans Homes toward the care of veterans, and VA does not pay for care for non-veterans such as a veteran's spouse.5 Ask ADVA in writing what an Arkansas State Veterans Home would charge your mother before the two of them plan to move in together.

What an Arkansas State Veterans Home Costs

This is usually the question behind every other one, and the answer starts with ADVA itself. Arkansas law, Ark. Code Ann. § 20-81-105(d)(1), directs ADVA to set the monetary charges for veterans living in a veterans home in line with federal VA guidelines, and ADVA's admissions rule tells families with questions about financial obligations to call ADVA in Little Rock at 501-683-2382.1 Ask for the current daily charge for a veteran, and for a spouse if one is coming, and ask what the charge includes.

A few other pieces shape what your family actually pays:

• Medicaid beds. The Arkansas Department of Human Services lists all 96 beds at the North Little Rock home as Medicaid beds and all 90 beds at the Fayetteville home as dual Medicaid and Medicare beds.4 If your parent may need Medicaid through the Arkansas Department of Human Services to cover part of the bill, ask the home's business office how it handles a resident on Medicaid, and see our guide to Medicaid and nursing home care in Arkansas.
• VA pension. If your parent receives VA pension with Aid and Attendance, our guide to using Aid and Attendance toward an Arkansas nursing home covers how that benefit fits in.
• VA's own payment. VA's basic per diem for an eligible veteran in a State home is paid to the state, and 38 U.S.C. 1741 limits it to half the cost of the veteran's care.2 That per diem goes to the State of Arkansas, not to your family.

When VA Pays the Whole Bill

For some veterans, the cost question has a much better answer. Under 38 U.S.C. 1745 and 38 CFR 51.41, VA's payment to a State home under a State home care agreement is payment in full for nursing home care, and the State home may not charge any individual, insurer or entity other than VA for that care, when the veteran is one of these:2

• A veteran who needs nursing home care for a VA-adjudicated service-connected disability.2
• A veteran with a service-connected disability rated 70% or more who needs nursing home care.2
• A veteran rated for total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU) who needs nursing home care.2

Bring your father's VA disability rating decision letter to the first call to an Arkansas State Veterans Home, and ask the home's business office whether the home has a State home care agreement with VA and, if it does, to confirm in writing that it will bill VA under that agreement for his care.

One more federal rule can protect a veteran's monthly income. Under 38 U.S.C. 5503(d), VA pension for a veteran with no spouse or child who is covered by Medicaid in a nursing facility is capped at $90 a month, but that section's definition of nursing facility excludes a State home for which VA pays per diem under 38 U.S.C. 1741(a), so the $90 cap does not apply to a veteran in that kind of State home.6 Ask the Arkansas home whether it receives that VA per diem, and ask an accredited veterans service officer how your parent's pension would be handled there.

How to Apply, Step by Step

ADVA's Veteran Homes page posts an "Inquiry for Admission" form and says completed forms can be emailed to the home you choose.4

For help gathering discharge papers and VA rating letters for an Arkansas State Veterans Home application, our Arkansas Aid and Attendance guide explains how to find a county veterans service officer.

Learn More

Find personalized help getting a veteran parent into an Arkansas State Veterans Home at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.