North Dakota Veterans Home: Who Qualifies, Cost, How to Apply

If a parent who served needs more care, the North Dakota Veterans Home in Lisbon sets Basic Care rent at 55% of a resident's net income, capped at $2,186 a month as of February 1, 2026.1,2 The North Dakota Veterans Home's Skilled Care nursing unit bills a daily rate instead.2 VA pays a State Veterans Home in full for the nursing home care of a veteran who needs that care and who needs it for a service-connected disability, is rated 70% or more, or has a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU).3

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• The North Dakota Veterans Home at a Glance
• Basic Care or Skilled Care: Which Unit Fits Your Parent?
• Who Can Live at the North Dakota Veterans Home?
• What Will the North Dakota Veterans Home Cost Your Family?
• When VA Pays for Nursing Home Care in Full
• How to Apply to the North Dakota Veterans Home
• The Waiting List, and What Happens After a Denial
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

The North Dakota Veterans Home at a Glance

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 then surveys it every year to make sure it still meets VA standards. Each state sets its own eligibility and admission rules for its State Veterans Homes.5

In North Dakota, that home is the North Dakota Veterans Home (NDVH). North Dakota Century Code section 37-15-01 says a veterans' home must be maintained at the city of Lisbon in Ransom County, and the North Dakota Veterans Home has cared for honorably discharged veterans and their spouses there since 1893.1

• Address: The North Dakota Veterans Home is at 1600 Veterans Drive, Lisbon, ND 58054, on a 90-acre wooded campus bordering the Sheyenne River.1
• Size: The North Dakota Veterans Home's own website lists 52 skilled nursing beds and 98 basic care beds, while the North Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs lists 111 basic care and 38 skilled nursing beds for the same home. The two state sources have not been reconciled, so ask the Home which unit has room.1
• Rooms: The North Dakota Veterans Home says its Skilled Care unit has 52 private rooms, and its Basic Care unit has 94 private rooms and 4 semi-private rooms.1

Lisbon may be a long way from where your family lives, and that matters when you picture visiting every week. If Lisbon is too far, our guide to VA nursing home care covers the nursing homes VA runs itself, and our national guide to State Veterans Homes explains how the program works in other states.

Basic Care or Skilled Care: Which Unit Fits Your Parent?

Before the first phone call, it helps to be honest about how much help your parent needs each day, because the North Dakota Veterans Home's two units serve very different needs.1

• Basic Care: The North Dakota Veterans Home's Basic Care unit requires total independence with personal care needs such as bathing, dressing, eating, walking, toileting and transferring. Medical and nursing supervision is available, and meals are served in a central dining room.1
• Skilled Care: The North Dakota Veterans Home's Skilled Care unit is its nursing home, for residents who need ongoing nursing supervision or help with physical needs and daily activities, from total assistance to supervision of one or two needs. Medical care there is available on a regular and frequent, but not continuous, basis, and the Skilled Care unit is a licensed Medicare and Medicaid provider.1

The North Dakota Veterans Home's Basic Care page also sets three limits: the Home is unable to accept residents receiving dialysis, an applicant with a diagnosis of alcohol or substance abuse needs nine to twelve months of documented sobriety, and a mental health condition must be stabilized at admission.1 The North Dakota Veterans Home's 2026 application also bars applicants receiving dialysis, whichever unit they apply to.4 The unit matters for money as well as for care, as When VA Pays for Nursing Home Care in Full explains.

Who Can Live at the North Dakota Veterans Home?

North Dakota's law is broader than the short lists families often see. Under North Dakota Century Code section 37-15-02, the North Dakota Veterans Home provides basic care and long-term care for three groups:1

1. Veterans, which North Dakota law defines as people who served on continuous federalized active duty for 180 days, or for the full period they were called or ordered to active duty for reasons other than training, and were discharged or released under other than dishonorable conditions. Under the same North Dakota definition, a veteran whose discharge reflects "expiration of term of service" or "completion of required service" qualifies with a shorter term of service.1
2. Service members of the armed forces, National Guard or Reserve who were discharged under other than dishonorable conditions and don't meet that definition of a veteran, but who are or may become permanently disabled from any cause in the line of duty and are enrolled in VA health care before admission.1
3. The spouse or surviving spouse of someone in either group, who North Dakota law says may be admitted on the same footing as the veteran.1

VA notes that some State Veterans Homes admit non-veteran spouses while others admit only veterans, so the North Dakota Veterans Home's spouse rule is worth knowing if your parents hope to stay together.5,1

Residency. North Dakota Century Code section 37-15-10 says an applicant to the North Dakota Veterans Home must be a bona fide North Dakota resident before applying, and the residency requirement may be waived for an applicant who served in a North Dakota regiment or was accredited to North Dakota. The North Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs' own page describes the test as 30 days of North Dakota residency, a period that appears in neither the statute nor the admissions rules.1 If your parent moved to North Dakota recently, ask the Home how it will apply the residency rule.

Who is barred. Under North Dakota Administrative Code section 86-03-01-02, an applicant whose last period of military service ended under dishonorable conditions is not eligible for the North Dakota Veterans Home, and an applicant convicted of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude needs to show enough evidence of good conduct and reformation to satisfy the board of admissions.1

What Will the North Dakota Veterans Home Cost Your Family?

This is often the question that keeps families up at night, and at the North Dakota Veterans Home the answer depends first on which unit your parent lives in. North Dakota Century Code section 37-15-14.1 lets the North Dakota Veterans Home's governing board set fees based on each member's adjusted income (all money received from any source, including Social Security, less what the member spends on hospitalization, other medical care and required medicines), and caps those fees at forty-nine percent of the Home's average daily cost per member.2

Basic Care rent

The North Dakota Veterans Home's 2026 cost guide and rent policy set Basic Care rent this way:2

• The formula: The North Dakota Veterans Home adds up all of a Basic Care resident's yearly income, subtracts allowable medical expenses, and sets rent at 55% of that net income, divided by 12 months.2
• The cap: Monthly Basic Care rent at the North Dakota Veterans Home can't go above $2,186 as of February 1, 2026. The cap rises each year by the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, with changes taking effect every February 1.2
• Spouses: At the North Dakota Veterans Home, a veteran's spouse pays the maximum Basic Care rate regardless of income or expenses.2
• Paperwork: If income or expense details aren't provided, the North Dakota Veterans Home charges the maximum rent until the correct information comes in.2

It can feel invasive to hand over every statement, but at the North Dakota Veterans Home those records are what keep a Basic Care resident's rent below the cap.

Skilled Care daily rates

Skilled Care at the North Dakota Veterans Home works differently: rent calculations don't apply, and each Skilled Care resident is charged a daily rate set through the State of North Dakota's case mix system. The North Dakota Veterans Home completes an assessment within 14 days of admission, the State assigns a case mix level, and that case mix level sets the resident's daily rate. Until the State returns the case mix level, the North Dakota Veterans Home bills at the lowest level and then corrects the bill.2

The skilled-care rate sheet the North Dakota Veterans Home posts for July 1 through December 31, 2026 lists total daily rates from $534.20 to $983.66 depending on the case mix code, with a base rate of $419.76 a day.6 North Dakota law also protects private payers: under North Dakota Century Code section 50-24.4-19, a nursing home that takes Medicaid may not charge a private-paying resident more than the Medicaid-approved rate for similar services, apart from a private room or separately charged special services.6

Medicare Part A covers skilled nursing facility care only on a short-term, post-acute basis, not long-term custodial care, so a long stay in the North Dakota Veterans Home's Skilled Care unit has to be paid another way.7 Our guide to North Dakota Medicaid and nursing home care explains how Medicaid can pick up that bill.

Who pays what

For a veteran, VA money may help with the share. VA's Aid and Attendance benefit is a monthly payment added to a VA pension,8 and the North Dakota Veterans Home says residents may be required to apply for every monetary benefit they may qualify for, including Aid and Attendance and Medicaid, before admission.4 Our guide to Aid and Attendance for a nursing home in North Dakota explains how that benefit works.

When VA Pays for Nursing Home Care in Full

For some veterans, VA pays the North Dakota Veterans Home's Skilled Care nursing home bill in full, and the rule behind that is federal. Under 38 U.S.C. 1745 and 38 CFR 51.41, VA's payment to a State Veterans Home is payment in full for the nursing home care of three groups of veterans:3

• 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.

Under a State home care agreement, a State Veterans Home may not charge a veteran in one of those three 38 CFR 51.41 groups, an insurer or anyone else besides VA for the nursing home care VA paid for.3 The 38 CFR 51.41 payment-in-full rule covers nursing home care only, so a veteran rated 70% or more who lives in the North Dakota Veterans Home's Basic Care unit, rather than its Skilled Care unit, is not covered by that rule and pays Basic Care rent from income.3,2

If your parent's rating letter is in a drawer somewhere, find it now, and bring it to the first call with the Home.

How to Apply to the North Dakota Veterans Home

North Dakota Century Code section 37-15-10 says no one may be admitted to the North Dakota Veterans Home until that person has made a formal application, furnished the proof the Home requires, and been approved by the Home's board of admissions.4 Here is how that works in practice:

Before the admission date, the North Dakota Veterans Home also asks for items including a health care directive, front and back copies of all insurance cards, VA award letters showing service connection, pension, compensation or Aid and Attendance, and the last bank statement.4 By signing the application, the applicant agrees to pay for care from income and assets at the rates North Dakota sets and, when those funds run short, to apply for North Dakota Medicaid.4

A Veterans Service Officer can help too: the North Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs says an application to the North Dakota Veterans Home may be made through any Veterans Service Officer.1 Our North Dakota senior care benefits guide covers the other VA help your parent may qualify for along the way.

The Waiting List, and What Happens After a Denial

None of the North Dakota sources behind this guide gives a typical wait. What North Dakota does publish is the order in which people are admitted when the North Dakota Veterans Home is full, set by North Dakota Administrative Code section 86-03-01-01.1

Spouses come last on both North Dakota Veterans Home lists, so if Mom is the one who needs care, apply early and keep in touch with the Admissions Coordinator.1

If the North Dakota Veterans Home turns an application down, North Dakota Administrative Code section 86-03-01-04 requires the Home to explain why in writing and to give notice of the right to appeal; an appeal must be in writing and reach the administrator within thirty days of the denial notice.1 The North Dakota Veterans Home's application says a denied applicant may reapply after 12 months unless the denial letter says otherwise.4

Learn More

Find personalized help deciding whether the North Dakota Veterans Home fits your family 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.