If your father served at least 90 days and was honorably discharged, the Vermont Veterans' Home in Bennington may be able to care for him, and your mother may qualify too. The State of Vermont runs the home, Vermont veterans get priority for a bed, and the home's Admissions Committee weighs medical, social and financial need before admitting anyone. If you're weighing it for a parent who can't safely stay home any longer, here is who gets in, how the bill gets paid, and what the application asks of you.

In This Guide

What the Vermont Veterans' Home Is

A State Veterans Home is a home VA formally recognizes and certifies, then surveys every year against VA standards, while each state sets its own eligibility and admission rules. Our national guide to State Veterans Homes explains how the program works in every state.

The State of Vermont's veterans home is the Vermont Veterans' Home (VVH), at 325 North Street in Bennington. Under 20 V.S.A. chapter 87, the Vermont Veterans' Home is a body corporate and politic and a public instrumentality of the State of Vermont, governed by its Board of Trustees. VVH also says plainly that it is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Admission runs through the home's own Admissions Committee, which reviews each application against the veteran's medical, social and financial needs.

Here is VVH at a glance, drawn from the home's own pages, the Vermont Office of Veterans Affairs and Vermont statute:,

Question What the sources say
Where is it? 325 North Street, Bennington
Who runs it? The Vermont Veterans' Home Board of Trustees, under 20 V.S.A. chapter 87
How big is it? The Vermont Office of Veterans Affairs describes a 177-bed nursing home
What care? Short- and long-term skilled nursing care, rehabilitation therapy, a certified dementia unit, respite care, end-of-life care
Who can apply? Veterans who meet the service and discharge test, their spouses, widows and widowers, and Gold Star parents
Who pays? Private payment, Medicare and Vermont Medicaid; VA for some service-connected veterans
Who do I call? The VVH Admission Department, 802-447-6539

What Care the Vermont Veterans' Home Gives

When a parent's needs have outgrown what you can manage at home, the first question is whether a place can actually handle them. The Vermont Veterans' Home describes itself as a licensed healthcare facility whose services include short-term and long-term care, post-operative wound care, dispensing and monitoring intravenous medications, and physical, speech and occupational therapy. VVH says its nursing care is supervised by a registered nurse twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year.

For a parent living with dementia, VVH runs a certified dementia unit, and the Army's MyArmyBenefits Vermont page lists a certified Alzheimer's and dementia unit among the home's services.

The home offers more than long-term beds:

  • Respite care: VVH offers respite stays for veterans and those who qualify, so a family caregiver can take a break.
  • End-of-life care: the home provides end-of-life care, with contracted hospice services available.
  • Rides to appointments: VVH provides transportation to and from medical appointments, though it says there may be a charge for some appointments.

On size, the Vermont Office of Veterans Affairs says the State of Vermont operates a 177-bed nursing home in Bennington. Ask the Admission Department what's open at your parent's level of care before you plan around a move date.

Does Your Parent Qualify?

It's natural to worry that some detail of your parent's service record will shut the door. The Vermont Veterans' Home publishes its admission test in two places, and the two pages word it a little differently, so here are both.

The Army's MyArmyBenefits Vermont page gives the same admission test for the Vermont Veterans' Home as the VVH FAQ: at least 90 days on active duty, unless discharged earlier for a line-of-duty disability, and an honorable discharge. If your parent's service was cut short by a line-of-duty disability, point the Admission Department to that exception when you call.

Family can come too. VVH says Gold Star parents and spouses of qualified veterans are also eligible for admission, and its FAQ says the spouse, widow or widower of an honorably discharged veteran, or a Gold Star Parent, may be eligible to live there. Vermont law sets the outer limit: under 20 V.S.A. § 1714(12), the home's Board may admit non-veteran residents only when their admission doesn't interfere with the home's core mission of caring for veterans, and may not admit anyone whose admission would preclude federal funding or violate federal law.

Where your parent lives matters less than you might think. VVH says Vermont veterans have priority for admission and veterans from other states are welcome to apply, and the Army's page says Vermont residency is not a requirement for the home. A father who retired to upstate New York to be near you can still apply; he'll just stand behind Vermont applicants.

How a Stay at the Vermont Veterans' Home Is Paid For

Money is usually the question that keeps families up at night, so here is what the Vermont Veterans' Home and the State of Vermont actually say. VVH accepts private payment, Medicare and Vermont Medicaid, and says other insurers may require special arrangements. The Vermont Office of Veterans Affairs adds that a veteran without Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance will have to pay for care at the home, and that the home's staff will help make sure every insurance program your parent is eligible for gets used.

VVH doesn't publish a daily rate on the pages we rely on, so we don't print one. Under 20 V.S.A. § 1714(3), the home's Board of Trustees sets, revises and collects charges for residential room and board by written procedure. Ask the Admission Department for the current private-pay rate at your parent's level of care, and get it in writing.

Medicare Part A won't carry a long stay at the Vermont Veterans' Home. Medicare Part A covers skilled nursing facility care only on a short-term basis, generally after a qualifying hospital stay, pays nothing after day 100, and doesn't pay for long-term custodial care. For how Vermont Medicaid pays for a nursing home once savings are spent, see our guide to Vermont Medicaid and nursing home care.

If the person moving in is your mother rather than your veteran father, VA money won't lower her bill. VA does not pay a State Veterans Home for the care of non-veterans, so a spouse's, widow's or Gold Star parent's stay at the Vermont Veterans' Home has to be covered by the other payers the home accepts, such as private payment, Medicare or Vermont Medicaid., For an eligible veteran who doesn't qualify for VA payment in full, VA pays its State Veterans Home per diem to the state, not to your family, at the lesser of one-half of the daily cost of care or the basic per diem rate VA sets each fiscal year. Because federal law caps the VA per diem at one-half of the cost of the veteran's care, the rest of a Vermont Veterans' Home bill still falls to private payment, Medicare or Vermont Medicaid, so ask the Admission Department how the per diem shows up on your parent's bill.,

If your parent may qualify for a VA pension with Aid and Attendance, our guide to Aid and Attendance for a nursing home in Vermont explains how that monthly money can help with a nursing home bill.

When VA Pays for Nursing Home Care in Full

For some veterans, the nursing care bill at a State Veterans Home is zero, and it's worth knowing exactly who. Under 38 U.S.C. 1745 and 38 CFR 51.41, VA contracts with State Veterans Homes to pay for the nursing home care of:

  • a veteran who needs nursing home care for a VA adjudicated service-connected disability;
  • a veteran with a service-connected disability rated at 70 percent or more who needs nursing home care;
  • a veteran with a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) who needs nursing home care.

For a veteran who needs nursing home care and who needs it for a service-connected disability, is rated 70% or more, or has a TDIU rating, a State Veterans Home's care agreement with VA bars the home from charging the veteran, an insurer or anyone other than VA for the nursing home care VA paid for. For a family budgeting for years of care, that means the nursing care line of the bill is covered, so keep your parent's VA rating decision letter where you can put your hands on it.

The Vermont Veterans' Home puts it more briefly. Its payment page says that if you are a service-connected disabled veteran with a rating of 70% or higher, the VA will cover your stay at the VVH. Under 38 U.S.C. 1745, VA's payment in full to a State Veterans Home covers only a veteran who is in need of nursing home care, so ask VVH how it bills a stay if your parent's needs are lighter. The VVH page also names only the 70% group, so if your parent's rating is lower but the nursing care need comes from a service-connected condition, or your parent has a TDIU rating, bring the VA decision letter and ask the Admission Department to confirm in writing how the home bills VA under 38 CFR 51.41.

How to Apply to the Vermont Veterans' Home

The paperwork can feel like a lot on top of everything else, so it helps to gather it in one pass. The Vermont Veterans' Home says you can confirm your parent's eligibility with its admissions team and set up a tour of the Bennington campus through the Admission Department at 802-447-6539.

1
Step 1

Get the application

VVH asks applicants to download and complete its application from the VVH admissions page.

2
Step 2

Find the discharge papers

The VVH asks for a copy of the veteran's discharge paperwork from the armed forces (DD 214 or VA HINQ), sent with all current medical information attached.

3
Step 3

Work through the checklist

The VVH application packet lists VA Form 10-10EZ, an authorization to release medical records, an immunization and infectious disease record, a mental health screening, documentation of any criminal offenses, power of attorney papers, a DNR or other medical instructions, any long-term care insurance policy, and copies of health insurance and prescription cards.

4
Step 4

Add advance directives

The VVH asks for any advance directives or other information it requests.

5
Step 5

Send it in

The Army's MyArmyBenefits Vermont page says completed applications and required documentation can go to the home by mail or fax.

Expect the money questions to reach back a few years. The Vermont Veterans' Home application's financial disclosure asks whether any assets have been transferred within the last 60 months. If your parent gave money to family or sold property in that window, gather the dates and amounts before you sit down with the form.

What happens next depends on need and on an open bed. According to the VVH FAQ, the home's Admissions Committee evaluates each application according to the medical, social and financial needs of the prospective veteran, spouse, widow or widower, or Gold Star Parent, and admission is granted when there is a vacancy that meets the veteran's needs. We haven't found a published wait time for VVH, so ask the Admission Department where your parent stands after the committee reviews the file.

For help with a VA disability claim or other benefits while you wait, our guide to VA benefits for senior care in Vermont points to Vermont's veterans service officers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a veteran need a VA disability rating to get into the Vermont Veterans' Home?

No. The admission criteria the Vermont Veterans' Home publishes are about service, discharge and, in its FAQ, medical need of a skilled nursing facility, and a VA disability rating isn't one of them. A rating matters for payment instead: for a veteran who needs nursing home care, a 70% or higher service-connected rating can make VA's payment to a State Veterans Home payment in full for that care.

Does Medicare pay for a short rehab stay at the Vermont Veterans' Home after a hospital stay?

Medicare Part A can, for skilled care only. Medicare Part A covers up to 100 days of skilled nursing facility care per benefit period, generally after a qualifying inpatient hospital stay of at least three days: days 1 through 20 cost $0 after the Part A deductible, and days 21 through 100 carry a daily coinsurance of $217 in 2026. Time under observation doesn't count toward Medicare's three days, but a doctor who participates in an Accountable Care Organization approved for Medicare's three-day rule waiver, a Medicare Advantage plan waiver, or re-entering a skilled nursing facility within 30 days can remove the three-day requirement. The Vermont Veterans' Home lists short-term care and rehabilitation therapy among its services and accepts Medicare.,

What happens if a parent's savings run out after moving into the Vermont Veterans' Home?

The Vermont Veterans' Home says a resident who no longer has the resources to pay may then qualify for Vermont Medicaid, which pays for most of the resident's care at the home. VVH also offers help filling out the Vermont Medicaid application, by appointment, for people seeking long-term placement at the home. Start that conversation early rather than waiting for the account to hit zero.

Should we wait for a pending VA disability claim before applying?

No. Under 38 CFR 51.41, a State Veterans Home can bill VA under its State home care agreement back to the effective date of a retroactive service-connected rating, or February 2, 2013, whichever is later. Apply to VVH now and tell the Admission Department the claim is pending.

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 VermontVA Aid and Attendance tops out at $29,093 a year, less your countable income. Compare VA home care, the Vermont Veterans' Home, and Veteran-Directed Care. VA BenefitsHow VA Aid and Attendance Helps Pay for a Nursing Home in VermontHow VA Aid and Attendance helps pay for a nursing home in Vermont: 2026 rates, the medical-expense deduction, the $90 Medicaid cap, and how to apply. MedicaidVermont Medicaid and Nursing Home Care: Coverage, Costs, and EligibilityHow Vermont Medicaid nursing home coverage works in 2026: Choices for Care eligibility, the asset limit, what you pay, spousal protections, and estate recovery. VA BenefitsVA Nursing Homes and Community Living Centers: Who Qualifies and What the VA PaysVA 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. VA BenefitsVA Long-Term Care Copays: What Families Pay and Who Pays NothingThe first 21 days are free. After that, the VA long-term care copay is up to $97 a day for a nursing home stay, and some veterans owe nothing. Who is exempt.

Find personalized help choosing and applying to a veterans home in Vermont 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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