If your father is a Utah veteran rated 70% or more and needs nursing home care, a Utah State Veterans Home may charge your family nothing for that care. The Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs (UDVMA) says there is no cost at its four veterans nursing homes, which serve veterans needing long-term care, for a veteran with a 70% or higher service-connected disability, and that for other veterans VA subsidizes the cost with a per diem UDVMA's page put at approximately $120 a day as of September 2026. Your mother can live in a Utah veterans home too, but UDVMA says VA doesn't cover or subsidize a spouse's care, and Utah law asks every applicant to be a Utah resident or show intent to become one within six months of applying.,

In This Guide

Who Runs Utah's State Veterans Homes

"State veterans home" is the federal program's name. In Utah the four homes belong to the state, and the agency behind them is the Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs, not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 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.

Utah writes those rules into its own statute. Under Utah Code 71A-6-102, UDVMA is responsible for running Utah's state veterans nursing homes, which may include contracting with a private health care provider to operate and manage each home, and each Utah veterans home must be operated consistent with the requirements for VA per diem payments under 38 U.S.C. 1741. Under Utah Code 71A-6-103, UDVMA sets each Utah veterans home's admission and discharge criteria, within the limits of Utah law and criteria set by VA. For how the program works in every state, see our national guide to State Veterans Homes.

The Four Utah Veterans Homes

The National Association of State Veterans Homes (NASVH) lists skilled nursing, rehabilitation, long-term care and memory care as the services Utah's veterans homes provide. UDVMA describes the Salt Lake City home as a skilled nursing facility with a memory care unit, and the Ogden home as providing rehabilitation, extended skilled nursing care and specialized memory care.

Home Address Main line Size
William E. Christoffersen Salt Lake Veterans Home 700 S. Foothill Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84113-1104 801-584-1900 81 beds; memory care unit (UDVMA)
George E. Wahlen Ogden Veterans Home 1102 North 1200 West, Ogden, UT 84404 801-334-4300 120 nursing care beds (NASVH)
Mervyn Sharp Bennion Central Utah Veterans Home 1551 North Main Street, Payson, UT 84651 801-465-5400 9 communities of 12 private rooms (UDVMA); 108 beds (NASVH)
Southern Utah Veterans Home 160 N. 200 E Street, Ivins, UT 84738 435-634-5220 9 communities of 12 private rooms (UDVMA); 108 beds (NASVH)

The addresses and main lines above are UDVMA's, and the bed counts for Ogden, Payson and Ivins come from NASVH, since UDVMA's page gives a bed count only for Salt Lake City. The room layout matters to some families. UDVMA says the Salt Lake City veterans home has 39 double occupancy rooms and 3 private rooms, while the Payson and Ivins veterans homes each offer 9 separate communities, and each community has a kitchen, a dining room, a living room and 12 fully furnished private rooms with private bathrooms and showers. NASVH describes the Salt Lake City home as having a 20 bed secure special care unit.

Who Can Live in a Utah Veterans Home?

Utah's statute sets the outer frame. Under Utah Code 71A-6-104, veterans and their spouses or surviving spouses may be admitted to any Utah veterans home if they meet four conditions:

  • they are Utah residents, or show intent to establish Utah residency within six months of applying for admission;
  • they meet federal eligibility requirements;
  • they need nursing home care;
  • and they are a veteran, or a veteran's spouse or surviving spouse.

A widow can apply in her own right, since Utah Code 71A-6-104 names surviving spouses. UDVMA's Veterans Homes page adds Gold Star parents, saying spouses of veterans and Gold Star parents are also eligible for admission to Utah's veterans homes.

The two main descriptions of the Utah veteran test don't match, and that matters if your father's service was short or his discharge wasn't honorable. UDVMA's page says that, in general, a veteran is eligible for a Utah veterans home if he served on active duty or deployed while serving in the reserves, and it names no discharge test. NASVH's Utah directory defines a veteran more narrowly: more than 180 consecutive days of active duty, or reserve service in a campaign or expedition with an authorized campaign medal, and separation under honorable conditions, or any service-related injury or disability whatever the length of service. If your parent falls between those two descriptions, ask the Utah veterans home you're considering which test it applies; UDVMA itself directs questions to the homes.

What a Utah Veterans Home Costs

What your family pays at a Utah veterans home depends on who is moving in. UDVMA describes three cost situations:

  • A veteran with a 70% or higher service-connected disability who needs nursing home care: UDVMA says there is no cost at its veterans nursing homes.
  • A veteran with no service-connected disability, or one rated below 70%: UDVMA says VA subsidizes the cost of a Utah veterans home with a per diem of approximately $120 a day (UDVMA's figure as of September 2026).
  • A spouse or Gold Star parent: UDVMA says VA doesn't cover or subsidize the cost of care at a Utah veterans home.

For a couple, that last line is the hard one. If your father is rated 70% or more and your mother moves into the same Utah veterans home, UDVMA's page says his nursing home care may cost nothing, while VA pays nothing toward hers. That is worth knowing before the move, not after the first bill.

UDVMA's page doesn't publish a daily rate for any Utah veterans home, and it doesn't say what a veteran below 70% pays after VA's per diem. Utah Code 71A-6-103 has UDVMA set a schedule of charges for each Utah veterans home in cases where residents have available resources. So call the home's business office, ask for today's daily rate for a veteran and for a spouse, and get it in writing.

A little federal background explains why the per diem is a subsidy and not the whole bill. 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. VA doesn't pay for the care of a non-veteran in a State Veterans Home, which is why your mother's bill at a Utah veterans home is the family's to plan for.

When VA Pays the Whole Bill at a Utah Veterans Home

UDVMA's "no cost" line for a 70%-rated veteran rests on a federal rule. 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:

  • 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;
  • 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 who 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. UDVMA's page mentions only the 70% group, so if your parent is TDIU or needs care for a service-connected condition rated below 70%, ask the Utah veterans home's business office how it will bill before you sign anything.

UDVMA's "no cost" line speaks of a veteran who already holds a 70% rating. If your father's rating claim is still pending when he moves into a Utah veterans home, a later decision can still reach back. 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. So keep the claim moving after the move, and send the decision to the Utah home's business office when it arrives.

Medicaid and VA Pension at a Utah Veterans Home

UDVMA's page doesn't say whether each Utah veterans home accepts Utah Medicaid, so ask the business office before counting on it. Our guide to Utah Medicaid for nursing home care explains the state's 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 Utah.

If the Utah veterans home your parent chooses does take Medicaid, a federal rule protects that pension there. 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 a Utah veterans home. Since UDVMA's page is silent on Medicaid, ask the home's business office about Medicaid and the $90 VA pension cap in the same call, and compare the answer with your parent's VA award letter.

How to Apply to a Utah State Veterans Home, Step by Step

There is no single statewide form. Utah Code 71A-6-104 says an application for admission is made separately to each Utah veterans home's administrator, and NASVH's Utah directory tells families to contact the nearest veterans home about its application process.,

1
Step 1

Pick the home

Choose the Utah veterans home the family can visit most often, and call its main line to ask about open beds and today's daily rate.

2
Step 2

Ask for that home's application

Apply to that home's administrator; if you want a second home too, apply there separately.

3
Step 3

Settle residency

If your parent lives outside Utah, ask the home what proof of intent to establish Utah residency within six months of applying it accepts.

4
Step 4

Document the nursing need

Ask your parent's doctor to document the need for nursing home care, and ask the home how it checks federal eligibility.

5
Step 5

Raise the VA rating

Tell the business office about any service-connected rating, TDIU or pending claim, so the home can bill VA correctly.

UDVMA directs families with questions to the Utah veterans homes directly, at the main lines in the table above. For the VA side of the paperwork, start with VA benefits for senior care in Utah.

No Open Bed or No Utah Residency: Other VA Nursing Homes

The home you want may have no open bed, or your parent may not meet Utah's residency rule. 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. 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. 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 Utah nursing homes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who gets priority for a bed at a Utah veterans home?

Utah Code 71A-6-104 tells Utah's veterans homes to give preference to veterans who are without adequate means of support and unable, due to wounds, disease, old age or infirmity, to properly maintain themselves. The statute doesn't set a waiting list order beyond that, so ask the home how it applies the preference to your parent.

Is the Salt Lake City veterans home moving?

Possibly, in the future. UDVMA's page describes a draft Environmental Assessment for a VA grant to UDVMA to build a new 105-bed replacement for the William E. Christoffersen Salt Lake Veterans Home in West Valley City, Salt Lake County. It's a draft, with no opening date given, so plan around the Salt Lake City home as it stands today.

Is a Utah veterans home free for a veteran rated 100%?

For nursing home care, yes, if the Utah veterans home bills VA under a State home care agreement: a veteran rated 100% clears the 70% line in the federal payment-in-full rule (38 U.S.C. 1745, 38 CFR 51.41). The 70% rating doesn't have to be for the condition that puts him in the home; 38 U.S.C. 1745 asks only for the rating and the need for nursing home care.

Can a Gold Star parent live in a Utah veterans home?

UDVMA says yes: Gold Star parents are eligible for admission, though VA doesn't cover or subsidize their cost of care. Utah Code 71A-6-104 names only veterans and their spouses or surviving spouses, so confirm a Gold Star parent's eligibility with the home before applying.

Learn More

VA BenefitsState Veterans Homes: Who Gets In, What It Costs, and How to ApplyState veterans homes are state-run, VA-certified care homes. See who gets in, how VA per diem and the 70% rating rule shape the cost, and find your state. VA BenefitsVA Benefits You Can Use for Senior Care in UtahA complete guide to VA senior care benefits in Utah: home care, nursing homes, Aid and Attendance, state veterans homes, and how to access them in 2026. VA BenefitsHow VA Aid and Attendance Helps Pay for a Nursing Home in UtahHow VA Aid and Attendance helps pay for a nursing home in Utah in 2026: pension rates, the medical-expense deduction, the $90 Medicaid cap, and Utah Medicaid. MedicaidUtah Medicaid and Nursing Home CareHow Utah Medicaid covers nursing home care in 2026: eligibility, the asset limit, how the income test works, patient liability, and estate recovery. VA BenefitsVA Nursing Homes and Community Living CentersVA community living centers, contracted nursing homes, and state veterans homes: who VA must cover, what the 70% rule means, 21 free days, and the daily copay.

Find personalized help choosing and applying to a Utah 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.

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