VA senior care benefits in Texas cap Aid and Attendance for a veteran with a spouse at $34,488 a year and open the door to 10 Texas State Veterans Homes., The hard part is knowing what to ask for.

If you're watching a parent decline and trying to sort out what the VA will actually cover, you're not alone, and you likely have more options than you think.

This guide covers every VA program that helps pay for or provide senior care, how to access each one in Texas, and what happens when VA care isn't enough on its own.

In This Guide

VA Senior Care Benefits in Texas: Long-Term Care Programs

The VA offers multiple long-term care programs. Access isn't automatic once a veteran is enrolled: VA also has to conclude the veteran needs that specific service for their ongoing treatment and personal care, and the service, or a space in the care setting, has to be available near them. VA may also weigh other factors, like the veteran's service-connected disability status or insurance coverage.

Home Based Primary Care (HBPC)

A VA doctor leads a health care team that provides services in the veteran's home, such as nursing care, physical therapy, and help with daily tasks.

HBPC is VA care, separate from home health care through Medicare. VA doesn't bill Medicare, and the two generally can't pay for the same service, so each time you get care you choose which benefit to use.

Adult Day Health Care

Veterans attend a structured daytime program that provides social activities, companionship, recreation, care, and support. It can double as a daytime break for the family caregiver: VA counts a veteran attending an adult day health care program as one form of home respite.

Community Living Centers (VA Nursing Homes)

Community Living Centers are VA-run nursing centers, designed to feel like home, that provide nursing-home-level care. Ask your nearest VA medical center whether it has a CLC and whether a bed is open.

A CLC stay can be short-term or long-term, and VA's copay schedule also lists overnight respite care alongside CLC stays.

Community Nursing Home Program

The VA contracts with community (non-VA) nursing homes so veterans can get nursing home care near home. VA covers some of these long-term care services under standard VA health benefits for veterans signed up for VA health care, and a veteran may still need to pay a copay for some covered services.

Respite Care

All enrolled veterans are eligible for VA respite care if they meet the clinical criteria for the service and it's available. If a community agency, an adult day health care center, or a nursing home provides the respite, the veteran also has to meet community care eligibility. Through the VA Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC), eligible Primary Family Caregivers receive at least 30 days of respite care per year. Respite can be in-home (a substitute caregiver comes to the house, or the veteran attends an adult day health care program) or nursing home respite, where VA pays for the veteran to stay in a CLC or community nursing home while the family is out of town for a few days; this kind should be scheduled in advance. VA describes both overnight and daily respite as available up to 30 days each calendar year.

Respite isn't necessarily free. Unless the veteran is exempt (for example, with a compensable service-connected disability), the first 21 days of extended care in a 12-month period carry no copay, and after that VA can charge up to $97 a day for institutional respite and $15 a day for in-home respite or adult day health care. VA doesn't quote the copay up front: to learn the amount, contact the veteran's VA social worker or case manager to complete VA Form 10-10EC, the Application for Extended Care Services. For help and referrals, family caregivers can call VA's Caregiver Support Line at 1-855-260-3274, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

For more on respite options, see our guide to respite care in Texas.

Not sure which VA program fits your family's situation? Chat with Brevy to get a personalized recommendation.

Texas State Veterans Homes

The Texas General Land Office's Veterans Land Board (VLB) operates Texas State Veterans Homes at 10 locations. They provide affordable, long-term care for Texas veterans, their spouses, and Gold Star parents, with Memory Care units at each home. The homes are Texas-owned and regulated by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Location Home
Amarillo Ussery-Roan
Big Spring Lamun-Lusk-Sanchez
Bonham Clyde W. Cosper
El Paso Ambrosio Guillen
Floresville Frank M. Tejeda
Fort Worth The Tuskegee Airmen
Houston Richard A. Anderson
McAllen Alfredo Gonzalez
Temple William R. Courtney
Tyler Watkins-Logan

Because VA subsidizes much of a veteran's cost, the GLO says daily out-of-pocket rates are well below average and include medications for veterans, though most residents still pay a share. Admission is governed by Texas Administrative Code Title 40 and federal VA medical, financial, and military service criteria, and eligible veterans with a 70% or higher service-connected disability rating may live at a Texas State Veterans Home for free. Applications aren't accepted online: you hand deliver, mail, or fax one to the home you choose. Contact the Texas GLO Veterans Land Board at 1-800-252-8387 for availability and current rates.

VA Aid and Attendance

Aid and Attendance is an increase to the monthly VA pension for veterans and surviving spouses who get a pension and need aid and attendance, such as help with bathing, feeding, and dressing.

2026 Rates

Category Maximum a year
Veteran alone Up to $29,093
Veteran with spouse Up to $34,488
Surviving spouse Up to $18,697

VA publishes these figures as Maximum Annual Pension Rates, in effect December 1, 2025 through November 30, 2026. Each additional dependent adds $2,984 a year, and two married veterans who both qualify are capped at $46,143 a year. Pension is paid monthly, and by regulation the monthly rate is the yearly rate minus countable income, divided by 12 and rounded down to the whole dollar. VA itself publishes one monthly figure, $2,874 (the rate it uses for asset-transfer penalty periods), which is the $34,488 rate for a veteran with one dependent divided by 12.

A Maximum Annual Pension Rate is a ceiling, not a payment. VA bases the award on the difference between the claimant's income for VA purposes and that limit, so a household with countable income receives less than the figures above.

Who Qualifies

To be eligible, the veteran must:

  • Meet the service requirement, with at least 1 day during a wartime period: at least 90 days of active duty for service that started before September 8, 1980; for enlisted service that started after September 7, 1980, at least 24 months or the full period called or ordered to active duty (with some exceptions); or, for an officer who started after October 16, 1981, without 24 months of prior active duty
  • Have no dishonorable discharge, and meet at least one of these four: be at least 65 years old; have a permanent and total disability; be a patient in a nursing home for long-term care because of a disability; or be getting Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income. Any one branch is enough, so a wartime veteran under 65 who receives SSI meets this requirement without any adjudicated disability rating
  • Need another person to help with daily activities like bathing, feeding, and dressing, or meet one of VA's other aid and attendance criteria (having to stay in bed, or spend a large part of the day in bed, because of illness; being a patient in a nursing home because of a disability; or having eyesight limited, even with glasses or contact lenses, to 5/200 or less in both eyes or a visual field of 5 degrees or less)
  • Have a net worth below $163,699. VA's net worth calculation counts the veteran's and their dependents' assets and income together, so comparing savings alone against that limit gives the wrong answer,

The VA enforces a 3-year look-back period on asset transfers.

How to Apply

Apply using VA Form 21-2680 (Examination for Housebound Status or Permanent Need for Regular Aid and Attendance), whose examination information section a medical examiner must fill out. That form covers Aid and Attendance added to either monthly compensation or pension benefits. The route described here is the pension route, the one VA describes with "You may be eligible for this benefit if you get a VA pension": on that route, a wartime veteran who is not already receiving VA pension also files Form 21P-527EZ (Application for Veterans Pension). A veteran who gets VA disability compensation would have Aid and Attendance added to compensation instead, so confirm which benefit the veteran actually gets before filing. A veteran in a nursing home also needs VA Form 21-0779, which a nursing home official uses to verify the stay. You can file online at VA.gov, by mail to the VA Pension Intake Center, or in person at a VA regional office. Asked how long a decision takes, VA's answer is "It depends," and it adds that it processes claims in the order it receives them unless a claim requires priority processing.

Don't do this alone. The Texas Veterans Commission's VA-accredited Benefits Advisors, working from 49 offices across the state, help file pension claims free of charge, and many county Veteran Service Officers do the same at no fee. TVC's advice is to submit an Intent to File (VA Form 21-0966) first, which establishes a date of claim with VA.

For the full application walkthrough, see our VA Aid and Attendance guide.

Veteran-Directed Care

The Veteran-Directed Care (VDC) program gives veterans a flexible budget to hire and supervise their own workers, and the veteran can hire family, friends, or neighbors. The veteran (or their representative) decides who provides care, what services to purchase, and how to manage the budget.

VA medical centers deliver VDC through local aging and disability network agencies, such as area agencies on aging. An options counselor there helps with the assessment and care plan, arranges fiscal management services, and keeps supporting the veteran. All enrolled veterans are eligible if they're eligible for community care, meet the clinical criteria, and the program is available. This is a good option for veterans who want control over their care and prefer family members as caregivers.

Ask your local VA medical center whether VDC is available in your area.

Community Care Through the MISSION Act

The MISSION Act (2018) has, since 2019, let enrolled veterans get care from community (non-VA) providers at VA's expense. Two requirements always apply: the veteran must be enrolled in or eligible for VA health care, and must get approval from their VA health care team before seeing a community provider (except in certain cases like urgent or emergency care). On top of that, you may be eligible for community care if any one of these is true:

  • VA can't schedule an appointment within 20 days or a 30-minute average drive (primary care, mental health care, and non-institutional extended care services)
  • VA can't schedule an appointment within 28 days or a 60-minute average drive (specialty care)
  • The care you need isn't available at any VA health facility
  • You and your VA provider agree community care is in your best medical interest
  • VA can't provide the service in a way that meets its quality standards

Failing either the drive or the wait standard is enough. VA calculates the drive as an average from your home using mapping software, not your own trip, and agreeing to a later appointment date means you don't qualify on wait time. On May 19, 2025, VA streamlined the best-medical-interest pathway by implementing the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act (the "Dole Act"), removing the extra review by a second VA doctor and giving eligible veterans faster access to community care.

For a Texas veteran in a rural area far from a VA medical center, the drive-time standard is a good one to ask about.

How VA Benefits Work with Medicare and Medicaid

VA benefits don't replace Medicare or Medicaid, keeping VA health care doesn't require enrolling in Medicare, and an older veteran or surviving spouse can qualify for and receive VA pension and Medicaid at the same time., VA and Medicare stay separate, though: VA doesn't bill Medicare, the two generally can't pay for the same service, and you choose which coverage to use each time you get care. Holding VA health care is no shield against Medicare's Part B late-enrollment penalty. VA warns that if you put off Part B and then have to sign up later, because you lose VA health care or want more choice in where you get care, you'll pay a penalty that gets bigger each year you delayed and that you'll pay every year for the rest of your life.

  • VA + Medicare: Many veterans use both. Medicare pays for Medicare-covered services, and VA pays for care it authorizes, at a VA facility or a non-VA one. If VA authorizes only some of the services during a stay in a non-VA hospital, Medicare may pay for covered services VA didn't authorize.
  • VA + Medicaid: A veteran can receive both at the same time. Aid and Attendance can add income (capped at $34,488 a year for a veteran with a spouse) while Texas Medicaid covers home care or nursing home costs. Texas uses SSI rules when it decides whether an older applicant qualifies, and under those rules the Aid and Attendance and Housebound allowances don't count as income at that step. Once someone is eligible and living in a nursing facility, though, federal rules say income disregarded at eligibility must be considered when figuring what they pay toward their care, so the Aid and Attendance amount can raise that share. A state's own rules can exempt it, so ask Texas Medicaid how it treats the allowance for your family. And when Medicaid covers nursing-facility care for a veteran with no spouse or child, or a surviving spouse with no child, federal law caps VA pension at $90 a month. Confirm how these rules apply with an accredited Veteran Service Officer or elder law attorney before you plan around them.
  • State Veterans Homes: VA subsidizes much of a veteran's cost at a Texas State Veterans Home, and the resident pays a share. The $90 pension cap's definition of a nursing facility excludes a State home where VA pays a per diem, so check a State Veterans Home stay against that rule rather than assume the cap applies.

The interaction between these programs gets complicated. This is where a Veterans Service Officer or elder law attorney earns their value.

How to Get VA Senior Care Benefits in Texas

1
Step 1

Confirm VA health care enrollment

If the veteran isn't already enrolled in VA health care, apply at va.gov/health-care/how-to-apply. The VA assigns a priority group (1-8) based on service-connected disabilities, income, and other factors, and that group affects enrollment and what the veteran pays.

2
Step 2

Get free help

Don't file claims or applications alone. The Texas Veterans Commission (1-800-252-8387) provides free help with VA claims, by office or phone appointment, and many of Texas's 249 counties have a Veteran County Service Officer who helps at no fee. TVC can prioritize a claim or point you to another source of help, so ask early.

3
Step 3

Gather records

For Aid and Attendance, a medical examiner fills out the examination section of VA Form 21-2680, and medical expenses the family paid and wasn't reimbursed for go on VA Form 21P-8416. If you're applying to a Texas State Veterans Home, its application asks for a copy of the veteran's DD 214 discharge document.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you have to be service-connected disabled to get VA long-term care?

Not for all programs. Veterans rated 50% or higher for a service-connected disability fall in Priority Group 1, and any veteran with a service-connected disability rated 10% or higher pays no copay for outpatient or inpatient care. Care tied to a service-connected condition requires no copay for any enrolled veteran, whatever their rating or priority group. Other enrolled veterans can still access many programs, depending on their priority group and available resources. Aid and Attendance doesn't require a service-connected disability at all. It requires qualifying wartime service, no dishonorable discharge, income and net worth within VA's limits, a need for aid and attendance (such as help with ADLs), and any one of four other conditions: being 65 or older, having a permanent and total disability, being a patient in a nursing home for long-term care because of a disability, or receiving SSDI or SSI.

Can a veteran's spouse live in a State Veterans Home?

Yes. Texas State Veterans Homes provide affordable, long-term care for Texas veterans, their spouses, and Gold Star parents. The GLO's admission application also lists surviving spouses as a category, so a widow or widower can apply in their own right. Contact the specific home through the Texas GLO for current admission policies.

How long does it take to get Aid and Attendance approved?

VA's own answer to that question is "It depends." It works through claims in the order it receives them, unless a claim requires priority processing. A Texas Veterans Commission Benefits Advisor or a county Veteran Service Officer can help you file at no charge.

Does the VA pay for assisted living?

VA puts assisted living in its community residential care group: it says these places aren't run, staffed, or paid for by VA, though it does inspect and approve each one, and VA benefits may help pay for extra services there, such as visits from a VA provider. Aid and Attendance works differently: it's an increase to the veteran's own monthly VA pension, so the household can budget it toward assisted living. Fees paid to the facility can also count as deductible medical expenses when VA calculates the award, on conditions. Payments for health care from a health care provider count. Payments for help with daily activities from other staff count if the veteran is receiving health care or custodial care in the facility and either needs aid and attendance, is housebound, or a physician, physician assistant, certified nurse practitioner, or clinical nurse specialist has stated in writing that they need to be in a protected environment. Meals and lodging count only if the facility provides or contracts for the veteran's care, or one of those clinicians states in writing that the veteran must live there to receive it. Veteran-Directed Care is a different tool: its flexible budget is for hiring and supervising workers who help a veteran live at home or in their community, so ask your VA medical center whether it fits an assisted living plan. And if the veteran qualifies for Medicaid, the STAR+PLUS HCBS program can pay for personal care and support services in a contracted assisted living facility, though the resident still pays room and board and the program has an interest list.

Next Steps

If you're caring for a veteran who needs help, start by calling the Texas Veterans Commission at 1-800-252-8387. Its Benefits Advisors help file VA pension and survivor claims free of charge. Then look at the state side separately. If the veteran has a service-connected disability rating, the Texas disabled veteran property tax exemption can cut or erase the property tax on their homestead, and it's filed with the county appraisal district rather than the VA. For the other Texas benefits a VA disability rating can unlock, see our guide to Texas disabled veteran benefits by VA rating.

Learn More

VA BenefitsVA benefits for senior care nationwideA complete guide to VA benefits for senior care: long-term care, Aid and Attendance, pensions, DIC, and home grants for older veterans and surviving spouses. VA BenefitsVA Aid and Attendance in TexasLearn about VA Aid and Attendance in Texas for 2026: eligibility, the $34,488 yearly ceiling for a veteran with a spouse, how to apply, and free help. CaregiverHow to Get Paid as a Family Caregiver in TexasLearn how to get paid as a family caregiver in Texas through Medicaid CDS, CAS, VA programs, and CMPAS. Covers pay rates, eligibility, and step-by-step process. CaregiverRespite Care in TexasFind respite care in Texas through Medicaid, VA benefits, and state programs. Learn about in-home, adult day care, and facility-based options for caregivers. VA BenefitsDisabled Veteran Property Tax Exemptions by StateA service-connected disability can cut or erase a veteran's property tax. See the three ways states structure the exemption and find your state's rules. MedicaidTexas Medicaid Programs for SeniorsTexas Medicaid programs for seniors 65+ include STAR+PLUS, CAS, HCBS waivers, and PACE. Find out what each one covers, who qualifies, and how to enroll. Care TypesHome Care vs Home Health in TexasHome care vs home health in Texas: what each covers, what home care costs, when Medicare and Medicaid pay, and how to find a licensed provider near you. Care TypesNursing Homes in TexasNursing homes in Texas in 2026: a semi-private room runs about $67,525/year, well below the national median. What it costs, how Medicaid pays, how to choose.
Your next step Find personalized help navigating VA senior care benefits in Texas 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.

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