Connecticut State Veterans Home: Who Qualifies, Cost, How to Apply

VA may pay the whole bill for a qualifying Connecticut veteran's nursing home care at the state veterans home in Rocky Hill when VA pays the home under a contract or State home care agreement. That covers a veteran who needs nursing home care and is rated 70% or more, is rated for individual unemployability (TDIU), or needs that care for a service-connected disability; VA's payment to the Rocky Hill home (Levitow Healthcare Center) for that nursing home care is then payment in full, and under a State home care agreement the home may not charge your family for it, so ask the home whether it has a contract or State home care agreement with VA.1 For everyone else, the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs (CT DVA) expects the veteran to pay for care at its Sgt. John L. Levitow Healthcare Center, and a veteran who can't pay must have a Connecticut Medicaid application pending.2

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• What Connecticut's State Veterans Home Is
• Who Qualifies for the Levitow Healthcare Center?
• What the Levitow Healthcare Center Costs, and Who Pays
• When VA Pays the Whole Bill at Connecticut's Veterans Home
• VA Pension at Connecticut's Veterans Home
• How to Apply to the Levitow Healthcare Center, Step by Step
• If Connecticut's Veterans Home Isn't the Right Fit
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

What Connecticut's State Veterans Home Is

Under the federal VA State Veterans Homes program, a state owns and runs each home, VA formally recognizes and certifies it and surveys it every year against VA standards, and each state sets its own eligibility and admission rules.4 For how the program works nationally, see our guide to State Veterans Homes.

Connecticut has one state veterans home: the CT DVA main campus at 287 West Street in Rocky Hill.3 Families often hear "the veterans home" and picture one building, but the Rocky Hill campus runs two very different kinds of help:

• The Sgt. John L. Levitow Healthcare Center is the nursing home. In 2026, CT DVA's website described the Levitow Healthcare Center as a skilled nursing facility licensed by the Connecticut Department of Public Health, rated 5 stars by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and certified annually as a State Veterans Home by VA. It cares for veterans with acute and chronic conditions that need daily medical management, including cancer, cardiac disease, COPD, dementia, stroke, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis and other neuromuscular diseases.3
• CT DVA's residential programs are housing, not nursing care. The Veterans Affairs Residential Facility offers temporary, supportive living in a community setting, and Patriots Landing offers a temporary, safe and secure place for Connecticut veterans, their spouses and children who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.3

If your parent needs help around the clock, the Levitow Healthcare Center is the one to look at, and the rest of this guide is about it.

Who Qualifies for the Levitow Healthcare Center?

CT DVA's Healthcare Center Admission Application (revised April 2026) says the veteran must meet three service and residency rules:2

• Discharge. An honorable discharge, or a general discharge under honorable conditions, on the veteran's most recent DD 214 (military discharge papers).
• Connecticut residency. A Connecticut resident when applying, or a Connecticut resident at the time of induction or enlistment into the Armed Forces. A veteran who moved away and now wants to come home can qualify under the second limb.
• Service length. At least 90 days of active duty, not counting active duty for initial entry training such as basic training.

On top of those three, CT DVA's application says an applicant to the Levitow Healthcare Center must require twenty-four-hour long-term skilled nursing care.2 That nursing test is what separates the Healthcare Center from the Rocky Hill residential programs. CT DVA's residential-services page asks only for an honorable discharge or release under honorable conditions and a current or at-enlistment Connecticut residency.3 A veteran who qualifies for a residential bed isn't automatically eligible for the Healthcare Center.

You may also come across the National Association of State Veterans Homes (NASVH) directory entry for Connecticut. It describes CT DVA's service standard as an honorable discharge with a copy of the DD-214, and says admission to the Healthcare Center requires an advance application, a medical history and physical, an eligibility check, and a chronic condition needing skilled nursing care or 24-hour help with activities of daily living.3 CT DVA's own April 2026 application also accepts a general discharge under honorable conditions, so if your father's DD 214 says "general," don't rule the Levitow Healthcare Center out.2

Every eligibility rule in CT DVA's Healthcare Center application is written for the veteran. If a spouse also needs care, ask the admissions office directly before you plan around a joint move.

What the Levitow Healthcare Center Costs, and Who Pays

CT DVA doesn't publish a daily rate for the Levitow Healthcare Center on its admission application. Under Connecticut General Statutes section 27-108(d), a veteran able to pay in whole or in part, as set by CT DVA's fee schedule, receives a monthly bill for the services.2 Call the admissions office and ask what the current charge is before you sign.

CT DVA's April 2026 application spells out how the bill works for a Levitow Healthcare Center patient:2

• The veteran pays for care. Veteran patients in the Healthcare Center are required to pay for the care CT DVA provides.
• No money means a Medicaid application. A veteran patient who can't pay healthcare costs must have a completed and filed Title XIX (Connecticut Medicaid) application pending, and must apply for Medicaid when CT DVA asks.
• While Medicaid is pending, the veteran pays his portion of the cost of care as CT DVA assesses it under Connecticut General Statutes section 27-108.
• Once Medicaid is granted, the veteran contributes a "personal liability amount" toward the cost of care, as computed by the Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS).

One more line on CT DVA's application matters to the family's inheritance: if a veteran patient dies, the Commissioner of Veterans Affairs may make a claim against the veteran's estate for the cost of care. Connecticut General Statutes section 27-108(g) gives the commissioner that power when a veteran dies still owing money for services.2 For how Connecticut Medicaid counts income and assets for a nursing home stay, see our guide to Connecticut Medicaid for nursing home care, and to apply for Connecticut Medicaid, start with DSS.

Where VA's per diem fits in

VA's State Veterans Home per diem goes to the state, not to your family. VA pays each state a per diem for an eligible veteran in a State home at the lesser of one-half of the daily cost of the care or the basic per diem rate VA sets each fiscal year, and by statute those payments can never exceed half the cost of the veteran's care.1 VA doesn't pay for the care of a non-veteran in a State Veterans Home.4

When VA Pays the Whole Bill at Connecticut's Veterans Home

For some Connecticut veterans, VA may cover the Levitow Healthcare Center bill in full when VA pays the Rocky Hill home under a contract or State home care agreement, and under a State home care agreement the home may not charge the family for that nursing home care. Under 38 U.S.C. 1745 and 38 CFR 51.41, VA contracts with a State home, or enters a State home care agreement, to pay for nursing home care for:1

• a veteran who needs nursing home care for a VA adjudicated service-connected disability;
• a veteran with a service-connected disability rated at 70% or more who needs nursing home care;1
• a veteran rated for total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU) who needs nursing home care, a group 38 CFR 51.41 adds.

For a veteran in those three groups (service-connected need, a 70% or higher rating, or TDIU), VA's payment to a State home under 38 CFR 51.41 is payment in full for that nursing home care, and under a State home care agreement the home may not charge any individual, insurer or other entity besides VA for the care VA paid for.1 CT DVA's application points the same way: its income and asset section tells Levitow Healthcare Center applicants with a 70% or greater service-connected disability rating not to complete it, while all other applicants must.2 Still, ask CT DVA's admissions office whether the Levitow Healthcare Center has a State home care agreement with VA, and to confirm in writing how it will bill VA for your parent's care before admission. VA's payment-in-full rule covers nursing home care, so ask how a 70% rating affects the charge for a bed in the Rocky Hill residential programs.1

A VA disability claim still pending at admission isn't wasted. Under 38 CFR 51.41, when a veteran gets a retroactive service-connected rating that brings him within the payment-in-full rule, the State home can request VA payment for nursing home care back to the rating's retroactive effective date or February 2, 2013, whichever is later.1 Keep the claim moving after the move.

VA Pension at Connecticut's Veterans Home

A wartime veteran may also qualify for VA pension, including Aid and Attendance; see how Aid and Attendance helps pay for a nursing home in Connecticut.

One federal rule protects that pension at a State home. When a veteran with no spouse or child is on Medicaid in a nursing facility, federal law generally caps his VA pension at $90 a month, but the statute's definition of "nursing facility" for that cap, 38 U.S.C. 5503(d)(1)(B), excludes a State home for which VA pays per diem for nursing home care. So the $90 VA pension cap must not be applied to a Medicaid-covered veteran living in a per-diem State home.5 How a pension counts toward the DSS personal liability amount at the Levitow Healthcare Center is a question for DSS and CT DVA's business office.

How to Apply to the Levitow Healthcare Center, Step by Step

Apply to the Levitow Healthcare Center on CT DVA's Healthcare Center Admission Application, revised April 2026.2

CT DVA considers a Levitow Healthcare Center application for review only when every required item in the list below is included, so a missing letter can stall the whole packet.2

What to have ready

CT DVA's Healthcare Center application says these must be included for an application to be reviewed:2

• The completed and signed Application for Admission, with the veteran's most recent DD 214
• Proof of Connecticut residency
• A current Federal VA Benefit Verification Letter
• All VA disability rating decision letters
• CT DVA's Release of Information (Attachment A) and Acknowledgement of DVA Rules and Veteran Responsibilities (Attachment B)
• The Medical Certificate from a primary care provider (Attachment C)
• VA Form 10-10EZ, the VA Health Benefits Application (Attachment D), and VA Form 10-5345, the VA Medical Information Release (Attachment E)

Add these if they apply: a Probate Court order of conservatorship, a living will, healthcare representative or proxy and power of attorney papers, health insurance cards (VA, Medicare, Medicaid and private), and a marriage certificate if the veteran is married.2

Who to call

For admissions questions, CT DVA lists the email HCC.DVA@ct.gov and the phone number 860-616-3708.2 For help with the VA side of the paperwork, start with VA benefits for senior care in Connecticut.

If Connecticut's Veterans Home Isn't the Right Fit

The Levitow Healthcare Center may have a wait, or Rocky Hill may be too far from family. VA has two nursing home programs of its own. A VA Community Living Center is a VA-run nursing home, most often for short stays after a hospital discharge, and eligibility turns on clinical need, setting availability, service-connected status, disability level and income.6 A VA Community Nursing Home is a non-VA nursing home VA contracts with, and VA pays only if the veteran meets its service-connected, disability and income criteria.7 Our guide to VA nursing home care compares them, and VA long-term care copays explains what a veteran may owe there.

For private nursing homes, see Connecticut nursing homes.

Learn More

Find personalized help choosing and applying to Connecticut's 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.