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

If your father is an Oregon veteran rated 70% or more and needs a nursing home, VA may pay the whole bill for his nursing home care at an Oregon Veterans' Home. Under federal law, VA's payment to a State home for a 70%-rated veteran's nursing home care is payment in full, and a home with a State home care agreement with VA may not charge the family for that care, so ask the home whether it has one.1 For everyone else, the Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs (ODVA) posts a price: ODVA's daily rates, dated January 1, 2023, run from $249.90 for a veteran's general care at the Oregon Veterans' Home in The Dalles to "from $370.65" for a spouse's memory care at the Edward C. Allworth Veterans' Home in Lebanon.2

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• What an Oregon Veterans' Home Is
• The Two Oregon Veterans' Homes
• Who Can Live in an Oregon Veterans' Home?
• What a Day Costs at Each Oregon Veterans' Home
• When VA Pays the Whole Bill at an Oregon Veterans' Home
• Medicaid and VA Pension at an Oregon Veterans' Home
• How to Apply to an Oregon State Veterans Home, Step by Step
• If an Oregon Veterans' Home Isn't the Right Fit
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

What an Oregon Veterans' Home Is

"State veterans home" is the federal program's name; in Oregon the homes are called Oregon Veterans' Homes, and the state agency behind them is the Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs, not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.3 Under the federal State Veterans Homes program, VA formally recognizes and certifies each state home, 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.2

Oregon adds one twist families rarely hear about. Under ORS 408.375, ODVA must contract with a private company experienced in running long-term care facilities to operate and manage each Oregon Veterans' Home, so a private operator, not the state, runs each home day to day, and under ORS 408.380 each home answers to the same state and federal law as any privately run long-term care facility.3 Both Oregon Veterans' Homes are Medicare and Medicaid certified.3 For how the program works in every state, see our national guide to State Veterans Homes.

The Two Oregon Veterans' Homes

ODVA describes the same care model at both homes: around-the-clock nursing, on-call physician coverage, medication administration, a memory care unit, certified physical rehabilitation, and speech and occupational therapists. Each home's memory care unit serves residents with Alzheimer's disease and other memory-related conditions.3

The addresses above come from ODVA's contact pages, and the bed counts come from the National Association of State Veterans Homes (NASVH), since ODVA's pages don't publish them.4 The opening years are ODVA's.3 The Dalles home overlooks the Columbia Gorge.3 When you compare the two, weigh which one the family can visit most often.

Who Can Live in an Oregon Veterans' Home?

Each home's Admissions & Cost page says an applicant for an Oregon Veterans' Home must be one of three people: a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces, as defined by VA, discharged under general or honorable conditions; the spouse or surviving spouse of a veteran; or a Gold Star parent, meaning a parent who lost a child to war-time service.5 A widow can apply in her own right, and ORS 408.375 names "the spouse or surviving spouse of a veteran" in the statute itself.3

Two admission tests trip families up:

• Discharge. ODVA's Oregon Veterans' Homes overview page says a qualifying veteran must have received an honorable discharge, while both homes' Admissions & Cost pages say "general or honorable conditions."3,5 If your father's DD-214 says "general," don't rule the home out. Ask the admissions coordinator which rule the home applies.
• Nursing need. Both homes' Admissions & Cost pages require that the applicant need skilled or intermediate nursing home care "as determined by physician AND USDVA," meaning VA as well as the doctor.5 The Dalles home's care page states the same point another way: the resident must need 24-hour nursing care as recommended by a primary care physician, and VA must concur.3 A doctor's letter alone is only half of what either home asks for.

ODVA's Admissions & Cost pages add three more conditions for admission to an Oregon Veterans' Home: the applicant must be able to pay the resident's portion of the cost of care, if any; must not need medical care the home isn't equipped or staffed to provide; and must not have violent traits that may be dangerous to others.5

What a Day Costs at Each Oregon Veterans' Home

Here is the number that shapes the family's plan, and the two homes charge quite different amounts. ODVA posts a daily room rate for each Oregon Veterans' Home; both pages still show rates from January 1, 2023, so call the home you're considering, ask for today's daily rate, and get it in writing.2

Those daily figures add up fast. At ODVA's veteran general-care rates effective January 1, 2023, a 30-day month comes to $7,497 at the Oregon Veterans' Home in The Dalles ($249.90 a day) and $9,954 at the Edward C. Allworth Veterans' Home in Lebanon ($331.80 a day), before any memory care charge.2 If your parent is in one of the VA groups described below and the home bills VA under a State home care agreement, that nursing home bill may never reach you.

At The Dalles, ODVA says the daily rate covers room, board, medication management and skilled nursing care, plus amenities and activities; the Lebanon page lists room, board and skilled nursing care, plus amenities and activities. On both ODVA pages, specialized memory-related care is an additional cost.2 ODVA adds that veteran residents can combine private, federal, and Medicare or Medicaid funding to cover daily costs.2

Why a spouse pays more than the veteran

ODVA's pages don't say why each Oregon Veterans' Home's spouse rate is higher than its veteran rate.2 A few federal and state rules are worth knowing as background, though none of them is ODVA's stated reason. 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.2 Oregon's own statute, ORS 408.368, lists residents' fees and charges alongside VA per diem payments and Medicare payments as money flowing into the Oregon Veterans' Home Account.2 If Mom will move in beside Dad, ask the business office to explain how her rate is set and what payers can cover it.

When VA Pays the Whole Bill at an Oregon Veterans' Home

For some Oregon veterans, the posted veteran rate may not be the family's bill. 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.

Under 38 U.S.C. 1745 and 38 CFR 51.41, VA's payment to a State home for the nursing home care of a veteran who needs that care and needs it for a service-connected disability, is rated 70% or more, or is rated for individual unemployability (TDIU) is payment in full, 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 ODVA puts it more cautiously on each Oregon Veterans' Home's Admissions & Cost page: veterans with a 70 percent or greater service-connected disability who need skilled nursing care because of that disability "may be eligible" to have their cost of care covered by VA.5 So if your parent is in one of the three federal groups, ask the home's business office to confirm it has a State home care agreement with VA, and how it will bill, before you sign anything.

A 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 So keep the claim moving after the move.

Medicaid and VA Pension at an Oregon Veterans' Home

Both Oregon Veterans' Homes are Medicaid certified, so a resident who qualifies for Oregon Medicaid can use it there.3 Oregon's Medicaid program is the Oregon Health Plan; our guide to Oregon Medicaid for nursing home care explains the income and asset rules.

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

One federal rule protects that pension. 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 an Oregon Veterans' Home.6 Check how VA has applied it to your parent's own award.

How to Apply to an Oregon State Veterans Home, Step by Step

Each Oregon Veterans' Home takes its own application through its own admissions coordinator, and both homes' Admissions & Cost pages ask for the same paperwork.5

Once an application is approved, ODVA says the applicant is scheduled for admission based on occupancy availability at that home.5 For help with the VA side of the paperwork, start with VA benefits for senior care in Oregon.

What to have ready

ODVA's Admissions & Cost pages list these papers for an application:5

• The Application for Admission and VA Form 10-10EZ
• The veteran's DD-214 (military discharge papers)
• The veteran's, or the admitting resident's, current insurance information
• A marriage certificate, for a veteran's spouse
• Power of attorney papers, if any

Who to call at each home

Here are the lines ODVA lists on each home's contact page, plus the main line NASVH lists for The Dalles. Staff and numbers change, so confirm when you call.4

If an Oregon Veterans' Home Isn't the Right Fit

The home you want may have no open bed, or both homes may sit 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.7 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.8 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 Oregon nursing homes.

Learn More

Find personalized help choosing and applying to an Oregon 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.