Tennessee State Veterans Home: Who Qualifies, Who Pays, How to Apply

If your father is a veteran who needs nursing home care and is rated 70% or more for a service-connected disability, VA's payment to a Tennessee State Veterans Home is payment in full for that care.1,2

Tennessee runs five State Veterans Homes, in Murfreesboro, Humboldt, Knoxville, Clarksville and Cleveland, and a veteran who no longer lives in Tennessee can still qualify for one.1 If a hospital discharge planner has just raised the idea for your mom or dad, this guide walks through who gets in, who pays, and what to do first.

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• Tennessee's Five State Veterans Homes
• Who Can Get Into a Tennessee State Veterans Home?
• Qualifying Is Not the Same as a Bed
• Who Pays for a Tennessee State Veterans Home?
• How to Apply, Step by Step
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

Tennessee's Five State Veterans Homes

State Veterans Homes are owned, operated and managed by state governments, not by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA certifies each State Veterans Home, surveys it every year and can pay the state toward an eligible veteran's care, while each state sets its own eligibility and admission rules.3 For how the program works across the country, see how State Veterans Homes work.

In Tennessee, the homes are run by Tennessee State Veterans' Homes (TSVH), governed by a board whose members are formally appointed by the Governor. TSVH says it works closely with VA to help eligible veterans access federal funding for their care but is independent of VA. Tennessee's General Assembly created TSVH in law in 1988, and TSVH's first home opened in Murfreesboro in 1991. TSVH describes its homes as offering rehabilitative therapy services, long-term care and short-term skilled nursing care.1

The names and addresses above are the ones the Tennessee Department of Veterans Services (TDVS) lists on its State Veterans Homes page, which also states that the homes are operated by the Tennessee State Veterans Home Board.1 For the wider picture of VA help for an aging veteran in Tennessee, including home care, see our guide to VA senior care benefits in Tennessee.

Who Can Get Into a Tennessee State Veterans Home?

VA leaves each state to set the admission rules for its own State Veterans Homes, and VA says eligibility is based on clinical need and setting availability.3 TSVH's admission test for the Tennessee homes has two parts.

First, TSVH says the veteran must have been honorably discharged from active service and must need a skilled level of care. Active duty for training purposes only does not count toward TSVH admission.1

Second, the veteran must meet at least one of these five Tennessee connections, according to TSVH:1

• Lives in Tennessee at the time of admission
• Was born in Tennessee
• Entered the U.S. Armed Forces in Tennessee
• Has a Tennessee address as the official Home of Record on the military record
• Has an immediate family member who is the primary caregiver and lives in Tennessee

The last three routes matter most to families spread across state lines. A father who retired to Georgia but enlisted in Nashville, or a mother in Alabama whose daughter in Chattanooga is her main caregiver, can still meet TSVH's Tennessee connection requirement.1

TSVH also requires a copy of the veteran's discharge papers (DD-214) before admission, and says VA must verify the veteran's eligibility status.1 If you can't find your parent's DD-214, start that search now, since TSVH will not admit a veteran without it.

Qualifying Is Not the Same as a Bed

This is the part families often hear too late. TSVH states plainly that meeting its admission criteria does not mean a veteran will be admitted to a Tennessee State Veterans Home. TSVH reviews every admission case by case, weighing the space available and the judgment of its Clinical Director, Directors of Nursing and Administrators, and TSVH says it will not accept a resident whose needs it cannot meet adequately or safely.1

When no bed is open at the level of care your parent needs, TSVH says you can choose to be placed on a waiting list. TSVH also says it has no priority waitlist, but that a person in the hospital or in need of immediate skilled care may be given priority over someone already on TSVH's waiting list.1 If your parent is in the hospital right now, tell TSVH that when you call, and ask the hospital's discharge planner to help with the paperwork.

Who Pays for a Tennessee State Veterans Home?

What a Tennessee State Veterans Home costs your family depends on which payment route fits your parent, so ask TSVH's admissions staff for the current private-pay rate at the home you are considering.

When VA Pays the Whole Bill

Under federal law, 38 U.S.C. 1745 and VA's regulation at 38 CFR 51.41, VA's payment to a State Veterans Home for nursing home care is payment in full for three groups of veterans who need that care: a veteran who needs it for a service-connected disability, a veteran with a service-connected disability rated 70% or more, and a veteran rated totally disabled based on individual unemployability (TDIU). Under a State home care agreement, the home may not charge anyone other than VA for the nursing home care VA pays for.2

TSVH calls this federal payment-in-full rate the VA Higher Per Diem and says that, for a veteran who qualifies for it, VA covers 100% of the costs of a stay at a Tennessee State Veterans Home.1 Have your parent's VA disability rating letter in hand before you talk about money.

When the Family Pays Part of It

For an eligible veteran who does not qualify for VA payment in full, VA pays the state a basic per diem for State Veterans Home nursing home care, capped at the lesser of half the daily cost of care or VA's basic per diem rate for the year.2 TSVH says that for qualified veterans who pay privately, it applies VA's Basic Per Diem to the veteran's private-pay bill, which lowers the veteran's out-of-pocket daily room rate.1

The basic per diem goes to the state, not to your family, and it shrinks the bill rather than erasing it. For most families that means a private-pay balance every day of the stay, and on a long stay that balance comes out of your parent's savings month after month. Before your parent moves in, ask TSVH for the daily rate and how much the Basic Per Diem takes off it, so you can see how long the savings will last and when to start planning for TennCare.

For a veteran who isn't eligible for VA help, TSVH lists five other ways to pay for a stay: Medicare, a Medicare managed care plan, TennCare (Tennessee's Medicaid program), long-term care insurance, or private payment.1

Each of those routes has limits of its own. Medicare Part A pays for skilled nursing facility care only on a short-term, post-acute basis, generally after an inpatient hospital stay of at least three days, and federal Medicare does not pay for long-term custodial care.4 For a long stay, TennCare is the route most families look at next; our guide to TennCare nursing home coverage explains Tennessee's rules.

A wartime veteran may also qualify for VA Aid and Attendance, an increased monthly payment added to a VA pension, which has its own service, discharge, income and net-worth tests, including a $163,699 net worth limit for VA pension from December 1, 2025 to November 30, 2026.5 Our guide to using Aid and Attendance toward a Tennessee nursing home walks through that claim.

How to Apply, Step by Step

Learn More

Find personalized help getting a veteran parent into a Tennessee 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.