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

If your father is a Montana veteran who now needs nursing home care, a Montana State Veterans Home in Columbia Falls, Glendive or Butte is worth a call this week. For a veteran rated 70% or more for service-connected disabilities who needs nursing home care, VA's payment to a Montana State Veterans Home is payment in full for that nursing home care, and the same federal rule reaches two more groups of veterans.1 The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) says residents of the Montana Veterans' Home in Columbia Falls pay on the basis of their ability, that VA contributes toward the cost of care for each veteran, and that spouses do not qualify for that VA contribution.2 Both the Columbia Falls and Butte veterans homes say they keep a waiting list, so the time to call is now, not when a hospital discharge date arrives.3

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• Who Runs Montana's State Veterans Homes
• The Three Montana Veterans Homes
• Who Can Live in a Montana Veterans Home?
• What a Montana Veterans Home Costs
• When VA Pays the Whole Bill at a Montana Veterans Home
• Medicaid and VA Pension at a Montana Veterans Home
• How to Apply to a Montana Veterans Home, and the Waiting Lists
• No Open Bed: Other VA Nursing Home Options in Montana
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

Who Runs Montana's State Veterans Homes

"State veterans home" is the federal program's name. Under the federal State Veterans Homes program, the homes are owned, operated and managed by state governments rather than by VA; VA formally recognizes and certifies each one, surveys it every year against VA standards, and may pay the state toward an eligible veteran's care, while each state sets its own eligibility and admission rules.6

In Montana the agency is the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, not the Montana Veterans Affairs Division. MCA 10-2-401 names the three Montana veterans' homes and charges DPHHS with admitting to them.2 Two of the three are run day to day by a private company. Under MCA 10-2-416, DPHHS must contract with a private vendor to operate the eastern Montana and southwestern Montana veterans' homes.3 DPHHS says the Glendive home is managed by Eduro Healthcare, and the Butte home's own FAQ says it is owned by the State of Montana, operated by Eduro Healthcare, doing business as Butte Nursing & Rehab Center, LLC, and not operated by VA.2,3 For how the program works in every state, see our national guide to State Veterans Homes.

The Three Montana Veterans Homes

The bed counts, certifications and SWMVH's address come from DPHHS's facility pages, and the MVH Admission Coordinator's number from DPHHS's MVH admissions page.2,3 The Columbia Falls veterans home has served veterans since 1896, most of its rooms are double occupancy, and North Valley Hospital of Whitefish provides physician services on site.2 The Glendive veterans home opened for admission in July 1995, and DPHHS's EMVH admissions page says its accommodations are in semi-private rooms.2,5 The Butte veterans home's community center has a therapy gym offering physical, occupational and speech therapy, including outpatient services.2

Who Can Live in a Montana Veterans Home?

Montana's statute sets the outer frame. Under MCA 10-2-403, to be eligible for residence in a Montana veterans' home under rules DPHHS prescribes, a person must be a veteran or the spouse or surviving spouse of a veteran, and consideration must also be given to:4

• the person's age, and physical and mental status;
• whether the person can find suitable alternative accommodations;
• the person's term of residence in Montana;
• the person's gender as it relates to available living space;
• whether the Montana veterans' home can meet the person's needs;
• and other admission requirements DPHHS sets.

MCA 10-2-403 lists the person's term of residence in Montana as something to be considered, alongside the other six, rather than as a condition of eligibility.4 If your parent lives out of state and you want to move him closer, raise it with the home when you apply.

Each Montana veterans home then states its own test, and they don't read the same:

• Columbia Falls (MVH): DPHHS says admission to the MVH nursing program is for honorably discharged veterans who qualify for skilled or intermediate nursing care or domiciliary self-care living, that spouses of veterans are admitted on a space-available basis, and that a veteran and spouse may be admitted together if both qualify for nursing home care or domiciliary living.2
• Glendive (EMVH): DPHHS says a person must be an honorably discharged veteran, or the spouse or surviving spouse of a veteran who served in the U.S. armed forces, and that admission is limited only by the home's ability to properly serve the resident.4
• Butte (SWMVH): the home says an honorably discharged veteran, the current or widowed spouse of an eligible veteran, or a Gold Star Parent in need of its care is eligible for admission.4

A widow reading only the Columbia Falls page won't see herself described, since DPHHS's MVH page says "spouses of veterans" and never mentions surviving spouses.2 Montana law does cover her: MCA 10-2-401 lets DPHHS admit a surviving spouse to a Montana veterans' home if space allows.2 Gold Star Parents appear only on the Butte veterans home's page, and MCA 10-2-403 doesn't name them, so a Gold Star Parent should confirm eligibility with the specific home.4

MCA 10-2-403 says "a veteran" without a discharge test, while all three Montana veterans homes' pages say "honorably discharged."4,2 If your parent's discharge was other than honorable, ask the home's admissions staff directly before you rule it out.

What a Montana Veterans Home Costs

What your family pays at a Montana veterans home depends on who is moving in and what level of care they need. This guide doesn't print daily dollar rates. The Butte veterans home's rate sheet is dated October 7, 2025, and VA sets its State home basic per diem rate for each fiscal year, so ask the home you're considering for its current daily rate sheet and get it in writing.5,1

Columbia Falls. Beyond the ability-to-pay rule and the veteran-only VA contribution, DPHHS says the Montana Veterans' Home's cost per day is less than most private or nonprofit nursing homes charge.2

Butte. DPHHS's explanation of the Southwest Montana Veterans Home's daily rates, dated October 7, 2025, sets out these rules:5

• charges for medications, physicians and therapy services are not included in the SWMVH daily rate;
• a veteran who qualifies for skilled care does not receive the VA contribution; Medicare and other health insurance should cover skilled services, the veteran is responsible for any co-insurance they don't pay, and the VA contribution is reinstated when skilled care ends;
• a veteran rated below 70% service-connected will have to pay privately or get Long-Term Care Medicaid coverage to cover the SWMVH nursing home costs;5
• and a non-veteran likewise has to pay privately or get Long-Term Care Medicaid coverage.

The Butte veterans home's FAQ says its cost includes three meals a day plus snacks, nursing care, housekeeping, laundry, activity services and therapy as needed, that each room comes furnished, and that hygiene and toiletry items and linens are included in the room and board.5

Glendive. DPHHS's EMVH admissions page says each resident is classified at one of two levels of care on admission:5

• Intermediate care may be covered by private pay or Medicaid.
• Skilled care, once Medicare accepts and approves the certified stay, is paid by Medicare for the first 20 days; the resident owes a copayment for days 21 to 100, VA pays a portion of that copayment for a veteran, and a veteran's spouse pays the co-pay amount. EMVH says skilled care requires a 3-day qualifying hospital stay, care within the Montana-Wyoming Foundation for Medical Care's medical criteria, and a physician's certification of daily skilled nursing or rehabilitation.5

EMVH says it files all insurance claims for skilled care, and that the resident is then directly responsible for any unpaid balance on the monthly statement.5 Notice that the Butte and Glendive veterans homes describe a veteran's skilled-care co-insurance differently, so ask how your chosen home bills it.5

A little federal background explains why VA's contribution is a subsidy and not the whole bill for most veterans. 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, which is why your mother's bill at a Montana veterans home is the family's to plan for.6

When VA Pays the Whole Bill at a Montana Veterans Home

The Butte veterans home's rate sheet puts it simply: for 70% to 100% service-connected veterans, VA will cover all costs for a nursing home stay, with no out-of-pocket costs.5 The federal rule behind that line adds a condition, the need for nursing home care, and reaches two more groups of veterans. 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 with a TDIU rating who needs nursing home care, a group 38 CFR 51.41 adds.

For a veteran in any of those groups (service-connected need, a 70% or higher rating, or TDIU), VA's payment to a Montana State Veterans Home under 38 U.S.C. 1745 and 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 The federal rule covers nursing home care only. The Columbia Falls veterans home also has domiciliary beds, and domiciliary living is not nursing home care, so ask MVH how it bills a 70%-rated veteran in a domiciliary bed.2,1 The Butte rate sheet mentions only the 70% group, so if your parent has TDIU or needs care for a service-connected condition rated below 70%, ask the Montana veterans home's business office how it will bill before you sign anything.5

If your father's rating claim is still pending when he moves in, a later decision can still reach back. 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 DPHHS's MVH admissions page says free help with federal VA benefits is available from the Veterans Service Offices of the Montana Veterans Affairs Division, a good place to keep the claim moving.3

Medicaid and VA Pension at a Montana Veterans Home

DPHHS says the Columbia Falls veterans home is Medicare/Medicaid certified and the Glendive veterans home holds certification from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Glendive home names Medicaid as a payer for both intermediate and skilled care.2,5 The Butte veterans home's rate sheet points veterans rated below 70% and non-veterans to Long-Term Care Medicaid coverage.5 Our guide to Montana Medicaid for nursing home care explains the state's income and asset rules.

VA's Veterans Pension requires, among its service, age or disability, and income and net worth rules, at least 1 day of active-duty service during a wartime period, and VA's Aid and Attendance benefit adds a monthly payment to a VA pension for a veteran who meets at least 1 aid-and-attendance requirement, such as being a nursing home patient because of a disability.7 See how Aid and Attendance helps pay for a nursing home in Montana.

If your parent's care at a Montana veterans home is covered by Medicaid, one federal rule protects his pension there. 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 such as a Montana veterans home.8 If your parent's VA pension was cut to $90 a month after he moved into a Montana veterans home, ask the home's business office and VA to check his award against this exception, and compare what they tell you with his VA award letter.

How to Apply to a Montana Veterans Home, and the Waiting Lists

Neither the Columbia Falls nor the Butte veterans home publishes a wait time for its waiting list.3 DPHHS's MVH FAQ says the Montana Veterans Home is currently working through its waitlist and that applications are accepted and encouraged.3 The Butte veterans home says each referral is reviewed with its clinical team to decide on acceptance, and that when a bed opens it starts at the top of the list and calls everyone until the bed is filled, since some people on the list aren't ready to move in yet.3 So it can pay to ask about the list early.

For the VA side of the paperwork, start with VA benefits for senior care in Montana.

No Open Bed: Other VA Nursing Home Options in Montana

The Montana veterans home you want may have no open bed. 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.9 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.10 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 Montana nursing homes.

Learn More

Find personalized help choosing and applying to a Montana 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.