South Carolina State Veterans Home: Who Qualifies, Cost, How to Apply

A South Carolina veteran rated 70% or more who needs nursing home care may be able to live in a State Veterans Home without the family paying for that care. Under federal law, if the home has a State home care agreement with VA, VA's payment for a 70%-rated veteran's nursing home care counts as payment in full, so ask the home whether it has one.1 If a doctor has just said your dad or your husband can't safely live at home anymore, South Carolina's six State Veterans Homes, nursing homes the South Carolina Department of Veterans' Affairs lists in Columbia, Walterboro, Anderson, Florence, Gaffney and Sumter, are worth a close look.2

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• What a South Carolina State Veterans Home Is
• Where South Carolina's Six State Veterans Homes Are
• Who Qualifies for a South Carolina State Veterans Home?
• What Does a South Carolina State Veterans Home Cost?
• When the Family Pays Nothing
• Medicaid and the VA Pension Limit
• How to Apply, Step by Step
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

What a South Carolina State Veterans Home Is

The name says "Veterans," but a South Carolina State Veterans Home is run by the state, not by the federal VA. Under the federal State Veterans Home program, a state owns, operates and manages each home, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs certifies it and surveys it every year against VA standards.3 In South Carolina, S.C. Code Section 25-11-710 lets the South Carolina Department of Veterans' Affairs (SCDVA), "in mutual agreement with the authorities of the United States Veterans Administration," establish and operate the homes "to provide treatment for South Carolina veterans who require long-term nursing care."2

SCDVA took over these homes recently. Under 2023 Act No. 60, South Carolina's veterans-home law took effect on July 1, 2024 for the homes the South Carolina Department of Mental Health ran through a third-party contractor, and on July 1, 2025 for the rest.2

Each state sets its own admission rules for its State Veterans Homes, and VA says eligibility is based on clinical need and setting availability.3 If you're weighing a state veterans home against a nursing home the VA itself runs, our guide to VA nursing home care explains the difference, and our national guide to State Veterans Homes shows how the program works in every state.

Where South Carolina's Six State Veterans Homes Are

Distance matters more than people expect. A home you can reach on a weeknight is a home you'll keep visiting, and you'll be the one touring, calling and signing papers. Here are the six homes with the addresses and phone numbers SCDVA publishes for each.2

Use SCDVA's numbers. The U.S. Army's MyArmyBenefits South Carolina page lists the same six homes in the same six cities, but it gives a different address (2200 Harden Street) and phone number (803-737-5301) for the E. Roy Stone Veterans Pavilion in Columbia and a different phone number (833-432-4600) for Veteran Village in Florence.2 If a number doesn't connect, SCDVA's State Veterans Homes page is the South Carolina listing to trust.

MyArmyBenefits says the services at South Carolina State Veterans Nursing Homes include medical care, nursing care, rehabilitative therapies, pharmacy service, recreational and therapeutic activities, social services, beauty and barber services, transportation and laundry.2 That's a general list, so ask the specific South Carolina home you're considering which services it offers your parent.

Who Qualifies for a South Carolina State Veterans Home?

SCDVA's State Veterans Homes page puts it in one sentence: admission "is limited to Veterans who have been separated from the U.S. Armed Forces under general or honorable conditions and qualify as South Carolina citizens who are in need of skilled or intermediate nursing home care."2 Read as a checklist, SCDVA's page asks for three things:

1. A general or honorable discharge, on SCDVA's wording.
2. South Carolina citizenship.
3. A need for skilled or intermediate nursing home care.

If the Discharge Wasn't Honorable or General

This is where a family can rule a parent out too early. South Carolina's statute is written more broadly than SCDVA's page: S.C. Code Section 25-11-720 defines "South Carolina veterans," for the veterans-home law, as "any ex service South Carolina citizen who was discharged under other than dishonorable conditions and who served in any branch of the military or naval service of the United States."2 S.C. Code Section 25-11-730(A) also directs SCDVA to "adopt and execute criteria, policies, and procedures for admissions to and discharges from South Carolina veterans' homes," so SCDVA's narrower page may reflect criteria it adopted under that power.2

So if your father's discharge was Other Than Honorable, don't assume the answer is no. Ask a county Veterans' affairs officer or the home's admissions office how SCDVA applies the rule today, and bring his discharge papers.

How Long You Need to Have Lived in South Carolina

MyArmyBenefits' South Carolina page lists "South Carolina resident for at least one year" among its eligibility points.2 Neither SCDVA's State Veterans Homes page nor S.C. Code Sections 25-11-710 through 25-11-730 states a minimum period of South Carolina residency.2 If your parent moved to South Carolina recently, ask the home or a county Veterans' affairs officer before you count on, or rule out, a place in one of the homes.

Can a Spouse Live There Too?

Families often hope a couple can stay together. Neither SCDVA's page, S.C. Code Sections 25-11-710 through 25-11-730, nor MyArmyBenefits' South Carolina eligibility list states an admission route for a spouse or surviving spouse.2 VA says some State Veterans Homes nationally admit non-veteran spouses while others admit only veterans, and VA does not pay for the care of non-veterans.3 Ask the South Carolina home directly before you plan around a shared room.

What Does a South Carolina State Veterans Home Cost?

It's hard to plan for a parent's care when no one will tell you the price. South Carolina gives the fee-setting power to one agency: under S.C. Code Section 25-11-730, SCDVA "shall set and collect fees for residence in and services provided by South Carolina veterans' homes."2 Neither that statute nor SCDVA's State Veterans Homes page publishes a dollar fee, so ask the home for its current daily rate in writing before anyone signs.2

Section 25-11-730 also says SCDVA "is authorized to receive, as full or partial payment of any fees charged by a South Carolina veteran home, the assignment of any state or federal benefit."2 That South Carolina statute speaks only to what SCDVA may accept; it doesn't say which benefits a veteran can assign. So ask the home which income it asks a resident to put toward the bill and how much the resident keeps each month, and ask a county Veterans' affairs officer how a VA benefit would be applied.

VA also pays the state part of the cost for eligible veterans. Under federal rules, VA's State Veterans Home per diem goes to the state for each eligible veteran in a State home, and by statute those payments can never exceed half the cost of the veteran's care.1 For a family, that means the per diem is a payment to South Carolina, not money in your parent's hands, and SCDVA still sets the home's fee under Section 25-11-730.2 VA says the cost to a State Veterans Home resident varies by state.3

Don't count on Medicare for a long stay: Medicare Part A covers skilled nursing facility care only on a short-term, post-acute basis, not long-term custodial care.4 If VA pension money could help, see VA's page on VA Aid and Attendance and our guide to how Aid and Attendance helps pay for a nursing home in South Carolina.

When the Family Pays Nothing

For some South Carolina veterans, the honest answer to "what will this cost us?" can be nothing for the nursing care itself, if the home has a contract or State home care agreement with VA. Under 38 U.S.C. 1745(a) and 38 CFR 51.41, VA is to enter into a contract or agreement with State Veterans Homes to pay for nursing home care for these veterans:1

• A veteran who needs nursing home care for a service-connected disability.
• A veteran with a service-connected disability rated 70% or more who needs nursing home care.
• A veteran with a rating of total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU) who needs nursing home care.1

Under 38 U.S.C. 1745 and 38 CFR 51.41, when VA pays a South Carolina State Veterans Home under a contract or State home care agreement 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 TDIU rating, VA's payment is payment in full, and under a State home care agreement the home may not charge the veteran, the family, an insurer or anyone else besides VA for the care VA paid for. Ask the South Carolina home whether it has such an agreement with VA.1

Bring the veteran's current VA rating letter when you apply, because the rating is what triggers the rule. And if a claim is still pending, a late decision can reach back: under 38 CFR 51.41, a retroactive rating that brings a veteran within the 38 CFR 51.41 payment-in-full rule lets the State home ask VA to pay back to the rating's effective date or February 2, 2013, whichever is later.1 Our page on VA long-term care copays explains what else VA covers at no charge.

Medicaid and the VA Pension Limit

If your parent may need South Carolina Medicaid for a nursing home, you may hear that VA pension drops to $90 a month. Under 38 U.S.C. 5503(d), that $90 limit applies to a veteran with no spouse or child whose nursing facility care Medicaid covers, but the statute's definition of "nursing facility" leaves out a State home for which VA pays per diem for nursing home care.5 Under 38 U.S.C. 5503(d), a veteran on Medicaid in a South Carolina State Veterans Home that VA pays per diem for is not subject to the $90-a-month VA pension limit.5 For how South Carolina Medicaid itself pays for nursing home care, see our guide to South Carolina Medicaid and nursing home care.

How to Apply, Step by Step

SCDVA points families to two doors. Its State Veterans Homes page says: "To obtain additional information, or to apply for admission, contact your local county Veterans' affairs officer or the Veteran home."2

If you can, visit in person the first time. You'll meet the staff, see the rooms, and get a feel for whether it's the right place for your parent.

Learn More

Find personalized help choosing and applying to a South Carolina State 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.