At the Veterans' Home of Wyoming in Buffalo, a resident's monthly fee is based on the resident's ability to pay, not on a posted price. The Veterans' Home of Wyoming offers two very different settings: domiciliary care under Wyoming law, and a Skilled Nursing Community built on the Green House model, with private bedrooms and full baths. For nursing home care at a State Veterans Home, VA's payment is payment in full for a veteran who needs that care and who needs it for a service-connected disability, is rated 70% or more, or has a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU). Admission to the Veterans' Home of Wyoming starts with a phone call and ends with a two-day trial stay.

In This Guide

What a Wyoming State Veterans Home Is

A State Veterans Home is owned, operated and managed by a state government, not by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). VA must formally recognize and certify each State Veterans Home and then surveys it every year against VA standards, and each state sets its own eligibility and admission rules.

Wyoming's state veterans home is the Veterans' Home of Wyoming in Buffalo, and its admissions, fees and care are set out by the Wyoming Department of Health and by Wyoming Statutes Title 25, Chapter 9. A VA survey report records a VA Recognition survey of the Veterans' Home of Wyoming's nursing home level of care on May 21 to 23, 2024, with 36 total available beds, and states that the survey found the facility in compliance with the federal requirements for State Veterans Homes in 38 CFR Part 51.

For how the program works in every state, see our national guide to State Veterans Homes. Our Wyoming VA senior care guide puts the veterans home next to the other VA benefits a Wyoming family can use.

The Two Levels of Care in Buffalo

Wyoming law describes two levels of care at the Buffalo home, and the Department of Health's pages describe how the nursing level is built.

Level of care What Wyoming law says What the Department of Health and VA describe
Domiciliary care W.S. 25-9-101 says the home shall provide domiciliary level care The Department of Health pages we cite don't describe this setting further, so ask for a tour of it
Skilled nursing W.S. 25-9-101 says the home may provide skilled nursing facility level care if appropriate facilities are completed The Veterans' Home of Wyoming's Skilled Nursing Community follows the Green House model, with private bedrooms with a full bath and open kitchen, dining and living areas around a community hearth; VA's May 2024 Recognition survey covered this nursing home level, with 36 total available beds
Every resident W.S. 25-9-104 says the Department of Health shall furnish medical care for all residents One monthly maintenance fee covers room, meals and services; see what the fee includes

Across the Veterans' Home of Wyoming, the Department of Health's Services And Programs page says nursing staff provide care 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and a primary care provider sees residents at the facility during the week. Nursing Services at the Veterans' Home of Wyoming also coordinates medical appointments with the Sheridan Veterans Administration Medical Center and other outside providers, which matters if your parent already sees VA doctors in Sheridan.

Wyoming Statutes 25-9-104 also requires the Department of Health to provide a place of burial and to bury deceased residents of the Veterans' Home of Wyoming. Ask about that duty when you visit if it matters to your family's plans.

Who Can Live at the Veterans' Home of Wyoming

The Wyoming Department of Health's Admissions page lists four criteria for admission to the Veterans' Home of Wyoming:

  1. The applicant must be unable to earn a living by reason of wounds, disease, old age or other infirmities, or have no adequate means of support, or already be domiciled in Wyoming.
  2. A dependent of a qualified veteran may be admitted to the Veterans' Home of Wyoming if admission is deemed proper.
  3. The applicant needs valid in-state residence at the time of application, or the intent to permanently reside in Wyoming if the applicant has lived there less than one year; someone in transit, or with only temporary or seasonal residency, doesn't qualify.
  4. A person who is not a veteran or a veteran's dependent may be admitted if less than 90 percent of the home's capacity is occupied and no veteran's dependent application is pending, and that person must also be unable to earn a living with no adequate means of support and/or be domiciled in Wyoming.

In every admission decision, the Veterans' Home of Wyoming gives preference to veterans first and their accompanying dependents second, and the facility has final authority to approve or deny an application.

Where Wyoming law reads differently

Wyoming Statutes 25-9-101 is stricter than the Department's page on two points. Except as rules adopted under W.S. 9-2-106(d) provide otherwise, W.S. 25-9-101 covers honorably discharged veterans of the U.S. armed forces and members of the Wyoming National Guard disabled while on duty, who must be unable to earn their living and have no adequate means of support, and must have been domiciled in Wyoming for at least five years before applying to the home.

We can't tell you which test the home applies to a particular applicant, because the statute defers to rules we haven't seen. If your parent moved to Wyoming recently, call the home and ask directly how it applies the residence requirement before you rule the home out, or in.

What the Veterans' Home of Wyoming Costs

The Wyoming Department of Health doesn't publish a monthly rate for the Veterans' Home of Wyoming, so we don't print one. Not knowing the price up front is hard when you're planning a parent's move and trying to protect savings that have to last. The Department's Admissions page says residents' fees are based on an individual's ability to pay, and that the monthly maintenance fee includes, among other things, a furnished private room, meals, laundry services, nursing services, social services, activities and weekday transportation.

The Veterans' Home of Wyoming's pre-admission packet also asks for income verification. Getting the fee in writing before your parent moves in protects your family from a surprise later, and it's fair to ask what happens to the fee if your parent's income or VA rating changes.

VA money helps pay the home's side of the bill. Under VA's State Veterans Home per diem, VA pays the state for each eligible veteran at the lesser of one-half of the daily cost of care or the basic per diem rate VA sets each fiscal year, and federal law caps those payments at one-half of the cost of the veteran's care. VA does not pay a State Veterans Home for the care of non-veterans, so a spouse or other non-veteran at the Veterans' Home of Wyoming is billed without VA per diem behind the fee. If both parents hope to move in, plan for the non-veteran parent's fee as its own line in the budget.

The Veterans' Home of Wyoming also runs a resident trust account, and the Department of Health says Social Security and VA monthly benefits can be deposited into individual resident accounts there.

When VA Pays for Nursing Home Care in Full

For some veterans, the nursing home bill at a State Veterans Home goes to VA alone. 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 in one of those three groups, VA's payment to the State Veterans Home under 38 U.S.C. 1745 and 38 CFR 51.41 is payment in full for that nursing home care, and under a State home care agreement the home may not charge the veteran, an insurer or anyone other than VA for the care VA paid for.

Two limits matter in Buffalo. First, the payment-in-full rule in 38 U.S.C. 1745(a) covers nursing home care only; it doesn't reach a veteran living in the Veterans' Home of Wyoming's domiciliary care. Second, a 70% service-connected rating alone doesn't make VA pay a State Veterans Home in full; under 38 CFR 51.41 the veteran also has to need nursing home care. Bring your parent's current VA rating letter and ask the home to confirm in writing how it would bill VA under 38 CFR 51.41.

If your parent's rating isn't settled yet, a VA disability compensation claim is worth pursuing now. Our VA long-term care copays guide explains which veterans pay nothing for VA's own nursing home care.

How to Apply

The Wyoming Department of Health's Admissions page lays out the home's process in a few steps.

1
Step 1

Call the home

Reach the Veterans' Home of Wyoming at 307-684-5511 and ask for a pre-admission packet.

2
Step 2

Gather the documents

The Veterans' Home of Wyoming asks for copies of the DD-214, a recent history and physical, income verification, proof of Medicare Part A, B or D, and other documents with the completed packet.

3
Step 3

Return the packet, then do the two-day trial stay

Once the materials are back, the home invites the applicant for a two-day trial stay so the applicant and the facility can both see whether full-time admission is a fit.

4
Step 4

Get the decision

After the trial stay, the home will give permission to admit, ask for further information, or deny the admission.

When you call, ask whether there's a wait for the level of care your parent needs, and ask which level the trial stay will be in. If a DD-214 is missing, request it early, because the home asks for it with the packet.

If the Veterans' Home of Wyoming Isn't the Right Fit

VA runs its own nursing homes, called VA Community Living Centers, and VA eligibility for that care turns on service-connected status, level of disability and income. VA also contracts with non-VA nursing homes, called VA Community Nursing Homes, in many communities, and VA pays for Community Nursing Home care only when the veteran meets eligibility criteria involving service-connected status, level of disability and income. Our guide to VA nursing home care compares the options.

If your parent will pay a private nursing home or assisted living facility, a VA pension with Aid and Attendance may help. Our guides to Aid and Attendance for a nursing home in Wyoming and Aid and Attendance for assisted living in Wyoming walk through it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can my mother live at the Veterans' Home of Wyoming too?

Possibly, if she is the veteran's dependent. Wyoming law backs the Admissions page here: Wyoming Statutes 25-9-101 lets the Department of Health admit dependents of soldiers, sailors or disabled National Guard members to the Veterans' Home of Wyoming if it deems admission proper, and W.S. 25-9-102 gives veterans and veterans' dependents preference of admission over everyone else.

Can someone who isn't a veteran or a veteran's dependent get in?

Sometimes, but Wyoming law sets a higher bar than the Admissions page. Wyoming Statutes 25-9-102 requires a non-veteran applicant to the Veterans' Home of Wyoming to have been domiciled in Wyoming for at least five years, and to be both unable to earn a living and without adequate means of support, on top of the home being under 90% of capacity with no veteran or dependent applications pending.

Will my father still see his Sheridan VA doctors?

The Department of Health says Nursing Services at the Veterans' Home of Wyoming coordinates medical appointments with the Sheridan Veterans Administration Medical Center, and that the home's primary care provider refers residents to outside specialists or Veterans Administration providers as needed. The Veterans' Home of Wyoming also employs a veterans benefits coordinator who helps Johnson and Sheridan county veterans and their families learn about benefits.

My father's VA rating came through after he moved in. Can the bill be fixed for the months already paid?

Possibly. Under 38 CFR 51.41, if a veteran receives a retroactive VA service-connected rating that brings him within the payment-in-full rules, the State Veterans Home may ask VA for payment under its State home care agreement back to the rating's retroactive effective date or February 2, 2013, whichever is later. Send the new rating decision to the home as soon as it arrives.

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 WyomingVA senior care in Wyoming: Aid and Attendance up to $2,874/mo, home care, nursing homes, and the Buffalo veterans home, plus how to access each in 2026. VA BenefitsHow VA Aid and Attendance Helps Pay for a Nursing Home in WyomingHow VA Aid and Attendance helps pay for a Wyoming nursing home in 2026: rates, the medical-expense deduction, the $90 Medicaid cap, and how to apply. 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.

Find personalized help choosing and applying to the veterans home in Wyoming 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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