At the Veterans Home at Chelsea, one of two Massachusetts state veterans homes, a veteran pays $30.00 per day for nursing home care, and Chelsea retains any VA Aid and Attendance he gets. The other Massachusetts Veterans Home is in Holyoke, and each home runs its own admissions office.,,

In This Guide

What a Massachusetts Veterans Home Is

A State Veterans Home is owned, operated and managed by a state government, not by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, though VA must formally recognize and certify each State Veterans Home and surveys it every year against VA standards. Each state sets its own eligibility and admission rules for its State Veterans Homes.

Massachusetts runs two, the Massachusetts Veterans Homes at Chelsea and Holyoke. A Massachusetts Veterans Home is not a VA nursing home, so if you are also weighing a VA Community Living Center, our guide to VA nursing home care explains what VA runs itself, and our national guide to State Veterans Homes shows how the program works in every state.

Chelsea and Holyoke: The Two Massachusetts Veterans Homes

The two Massachusetts Veterans Homes sit in different cities with different programs, so start with the home your family can visit often, then check that it offers the care your parent needs.,

Home Address Main line Admissions line Care offered
Veterans Home at Chelsea 100 Summit Avenue, Chelsea, MA 02150 (617) 884-5660 617-309-9673 Long-term care (nursing home) and memory loss care; residential domiciliary campus
Veterans Home at Holyoke 110 Cherry Street, Holyoke, MA 01040 (413) 532-9475 413-552-4764 128-bed long-term nursing care with 24-hour licensed nursing staff; comfort and palliative care

The Veterans Home at Chelsea's Domiciliary Campus is a Massachusetts option for a veteran who doesn't need a nursing home yet. Chelsea's residential care serves veterans who can live in an independent setting but, for social or financial reasons, need minimal help with daily activities, and it runs in several buildings on the Chelsea campus.

The Veterans Home at Holyoke sorts its beds by level of care. Holyoke's levels include an extended care unit for veterans who wander or try to leave, and units for veterans at different stages of cognitive impairment and functional ability, so tell Holyoke's admissions team plainly how dementia shows up in your parent's day.

Who Qualifies for a Massachusetts Veterans Home

Mass.gov lists three conditions for the Massachusetts Veterans Homes: the applicant must be a Massachusetts resident at the time of applying, must be medically and behaviorally suitable for placement in a long-term nursing care facility, and must meet the definition of a veteran under Massachusetts law, which the state says the HERO Act recently broadened.

For admission to the Massachusetts Veterans Homes, mass.gov says a veteran includes anyone who:

  • served on active duty for at least 90 days and whose last discharge was under conditions other than dishonorable;
  • served on active duty, including active duty only for training, and was awarded a service-connected disability;
  • served in the National Guard or reserves, including active duty only for training, and was awarded a service-connected disability;
  • is determined to be a veteran by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs;
  • or is a veteran under the general Massachusetts definition in chapter 4 of the General Laws.

Under that HERO Act definition, the veteran's service must have been entered into or served in Massachusetts, or the veteran must have lived in Massachusetts for at least one day. The Massachusetts Veterans Homes will ask to see the veteran's DD-214 separation papers to decide eligibility.

The Massachusetts five-year residency statute

Here is where a family moving a parent into Massachusetts should slow down. The statute that governs the Massachusetts Veterans Homes, M.G.L. c. 115A, s. 1, entitles a veteran to admission "subject to the provisions of section 3," and M.G.L. c. 115A, s. 3, as the Massachusetts Legislature publishes it today, says no one is entitled to admission unless they have lived in Massachusetts continuously for the five years just before applying, with the veteran responsible for proving it. Mass.gov's eligibility page doesn't mention the five-year rule, and neither source says which test the Chelsea and Holyoke admissions offices apply in practice.

If your parent has lived in Massachusetts for years, gather proof of that address history anyway. If your parent lives in another state now, call the Massachusetts Veterans Home admissions office and ask how it applies M.G.L. c. 115A, s. 3 before you move anyone.

What a Massachusetts Veterans Home Costs

For most families the money question comes down to two numbers: what Dad pays each day, and how much of his monthly income is exempt. The Veterans Home at Chelsea publishes both, and they depend on his program and on whether he has a spouse:

Chelsea program Household Daily charge Income exemption
Long Term Care (Nursing Home)/Memory Loss Care Veteran without a spouse $30.00 per day $300.00 personal exemption from monthly income
Long Term Care (Nursing Home)/Memory Loss Care Veteran with a spouse $30.00 per day $1,500.00 spousal exemption from income, with the spouse's income applied toward it
Residential Veteran without a spouse $10.00 per day $300.00 personal exemption from monthly income

Chelsea's page lists each exemption but doesn't walk through a sample bill, so ask Chelsea's admissions office to show you, with your parent's real income, what he will owe each month. Three other Chelsea rules shape that monthly picture:

  • Other benefits: Massachusetts General Laws allow the Chelsea home, alongside room and board charges, to apply for and receive other federal or state benefits a veteran is entitled to.
  • Insurance: a Chelsea resident must keep adequate medical insurance, including Medicare Part B.
  • Personal account and billing: a Chelsea resident opens a personal account with $300, keeps a $300 monthly balance, and pays each bill by the tenth day of the month it arrives.

If your dad already gets a VA pension with Aid and Attendance, plan on that money going to Chelsea rather than to him: the Veterans Home at Chelsea doesn't count VA Aid and Attendance or Housebound money as income for its daily charge, and the home retains it. Our guide to Aid and Attendance for a nursing home in Massachusetts explains how that pension works.

The Veterans Home at Holyoke doesn't publish its charges on its admissions page, so ask Holyoke's admissions office for its current schedule before you compare the two Massachusetts homes.

VA helps the state, too. Under VA's State Veterans Home per diem, VA pays the state for each eligible veteran in a State home at the lesser of one-half of the daily cost of care or the basic per diem rate VA sets each fiscal year. VA doesn't pay a State Veterans Home anything for the care of a non-veteran.

Medicare Part A covers skilled nursing facility care only on a short-term, post-acute basis and not long-term custodial care, so Medicare won't carry a long stay at a Massachusetts Veterans Home. For MassHealth, the Massachusetts Medicaid program, and nursing home care generally, see our guide to MassHealth and nursing home care.

When VA Pays for Nursing Care in Full

For some veterans, the nursing care bill at a contracted State Veterans Home can be zero. Under 38 U.S.C. 1745 and 38 CFR 51.41, VA contracts with State homes to pay for the nursing home care of:

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

For those veterans, VA's payment under 38 U.S.C. 1745 and 38 CFR 51.41 is payment in full to the State Veterans Home, and under a State home care agreement the home may not charge the veteran, an insurer or anyone else besides VA for the nursing home care VA paid for.

Chelsea and Holyoke don't say on their admissions pages whether either home holds a VA State home care agreement, so ask before you count on it. If your parent is rated 70 percent or more, has TDIU, or needs nursing care for a service-connected condition, ask the admissions office at the Massachusetts Veterans Home you're applying to to confirm in writing that it will bill VA under 38 CFR 51.41 instead of charging your parent its daily nursing-care rate, which is $30.00 per day at the Veterans Home at Chelsea.

A pending VA claim is worth pushing. Under 38 CFR 51.41, when a veteran receives a retroactive service-connected rating that makes the veteran eligible for VA's full nursing-home payment, the State home can request payment back to the rating's effective date or February 2, 2013, whichever is later. Bring the veteran's current VA rating letter when you apply.

How to Apply to a Massachusetts Veterans Home

Each Massachusetts Veterans Home runs its own admissions office and its own application, so apply to the home you want.

Applying to the Veterans Home at Chelsea

For Chelsea's Long Term Care (Nursing Home) program, the home asks for:

  • the veteran's discharge papers (DD-214);
  • copies of all current health insurance cards, front and back;
  • any advance directives, such as a power of attorney, living will or guardianship order;
  • proof of income, such as Social Security, Aid and Attendance or VA retirement;
  • proof of Massachusetts residency.

For Chelsea's Domiciliary Campus (Residential), the home asks for the same papers except the advance directives.

1
Step 1

Get the Chelsea application

Email Chelsea's Department of Admissions at CHEAdmissions@mass.gov or call 617-309-9673.

2
Step 2

Complete it and attach every document

Mail the Chelsea application or bring it to Chelsea's Admissions Office.

3
Step 3

Expect the waiting list

An application that meets Chelsea's admission criteria goes on a bed availability waiting list.

4
Step 4

Prepare for the nurse screening

Sometime between application and admission, a Chelsea nurse assesses whether the home is appropriate for your parent.

Applying to the Veterans Home at Holyoke

The Veterans Home at Holyoke bases admission on the veteran applicant's medical needs, its ability to meet those needs, and open beds in the right level of care, and it reviews each applicant case by case.

1
Step 1

Download the Holyoke application

Holyoke's admissions page offers it in Word or PDF, and the whole form must be completed.

2
Step 2

Have the right person sign

The Veterans Home at Holyoke application must be filled out by the veteran or the veteran's invoked health care proxy, and a proxy must send the letter of invocation with it. If your parent can no longer make his own decisions, sort out the health care proxy now.

3
Step 3

Send it in

Mail it to the Department of Admissions, Veterans Home at Holyoke, 110 Cherry Street, Holyoke, MA 01040, fax it to 413-552-4757, or email it; questions go to 413-552-4764.

4
Step 4

Wait for the team review

A Holyoke interdisciplinary team of medical, nursing, social services and admission staff reviews the application and advises you on next steps.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Mom's income change what Dad pays at the Veterans Home at Chelsea?

It can at the Veterans Home at Chelsea: in its nursing home and memory loss care, a married veteran gets a $1,500.00 spousal exemption from income instead of $300.00, and the spouse's own income counts toward that $1,500.00. Chelsea's published Residential charge lists only a veteran without a spouse, so if a married veteran is headed for the Chelsea Domiciliary Campus, ask Chelsea's admissions office what he will pay. Bring both parents' income figures to that conversation.

Does VA pay for the non-veteran spouse's care at a Massachusetts Veterans Home?

No. VA does not pay a State Veterans Home for the care of non-veterans. VA also says some State Veterans Homes admit non-veteran spouses while others admit only veterans, so ask Chelsea or Holyoke directly whether the home admits a non-veteran spouse.

How long is the wait for a Massachusetts Veterans Home?

The Massachusetts Veterans Homes at Chelsea and Holyoke don't publish a wait time. Chelsea says only that an application meeting its criteria joins a bed availability waiting list. Applying early, with every document attached, is the part your family controls.

Learn More

VA BenefitsState Veterans Homes: Who Gets In, What It Costs, and How to ApplyState veterans homes are state-run, VA-certified care homes. See who gets in, how VA per diem and the 70% rating rule shape the cost, and find your state. VA BenefitsVA Benefits You Can Use for Senior Care in MassachusettsA guide to VA senior care benefits in Massachusetts: home care, nursing homes, Aid and Attendance, the state Veterans' Homes, and how to access them in 2026. VA BenefitsHow VA Aid and Attendance Helps Pay for a Nursing Home in MassachusettsVA Aid and Attendance can lift a veteran's maximum pension to $29,093 a year toward Massachusetts nursing home costs. Who qualifies, MassHealth, how to apply. MedicaidMassachusetts Medicaid and Nursing Home Care: Coverage, Costs, and EligibilityDoes MassHealth pay for a nursing home? A 2026 guide to Massachusetts Medicaid nursing home coverage, eligibility, patient-paid amount, and estate recovery. VA BenefitsVA Nursing Homes and Community Living Centers: Who Qualifies and What the VA PaysVA community living centers, contracted nursing homes, and state veterans homes: who VA must cover, what the 70% rule means, 21 free days, and the daily copay. VA BenefitsVA Long-Term Care Copays: What Families Pay and Who Pays NothingThe first 21 days are free. After that, the VA long-term care copay is up to $97 a day for a nursing home stay, and some veterans owe nothing. Who is exempt.

Find personalized help choosing and applying to a Massachusetts 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.

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