housingstate

Veterans Community Living Centers — Five Homes, Two Rate Sheets

Honorably discharged veterans, their spouses or widows, and Gold Star parents may be admitted. A veteran’s daily rate is far below a spouse’s at the same home, because the federal VA covers part of a veteran’s cost.

Verified August 22, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: Veteran daily rates from $144.28, against $292.99 for a spouse at the same home

Daily rates published by centre, August 2026. Fitzsimons (Aurora): veteran $254.62 semi-private, $274.62 private; spouse or Gold Star parent $403.33 and $423.33.
Bruce McCandless at Florence: veteran $184.06 skilled nursing, $194.67 secure memory care, $194.06 respite; non-veteran $332.77, $343.38 and $342.77.
Homelake (Monte Vista): veteran $144.28 semi-private, $155.28 private; spouse or Gold Star parent $292.99 and $303.99. Domiciliary cottages run $59.95 a day for an income-qualified veteran and $124.14 for a spouse or Gold Star parent.
Rifle: veteran $183.23 semi-private; spouse or Gold Star parent $331.94. Spanish Peaks at Walsenburg: veteran $188.06 semi-private, $206.53 private, $202.93 memory care; spouse or Gold Star parent $317.59, $332.61 and $331.80.
The department states the reason for the gap plainly: the long-term care rate is lower for veterans because a portion of a veteran’s cost of care is covered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Rates change. Confirm the current figure with the centre before relying on any of these.

Who is entitled to it

Veterans, spouses and widows are named as eligible, and so are Gold Star parents.
The discharge meets the stated criterion.
Your home is in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

1Pick the centre first, then use that centre’s own admission form — the forms are per facility, and so are the rates.
2Expect a medical criteria check alongside the service criteria. The admission team gathers the paperwork with the family.
3For long-term care the centres take Medicaid or Medicaid-eligible residents as well as private payment, and staff will help with both the Medicaid application and the federal VA benefit application.
4Ask about the additional federal VA benefits based on income and assets that may be available to wartime veterans and their widows or spouses.
5For short-term rehabilitation, Medicare typically covers up to 20 days after a qualifying hospital stay; after that a portion falls to supplemental insurance or to the family.

File with: Department of Human Services — Veterans Community Living Centers
Documents you will need: dd214
No renewal: Once granted it does not need renewing.

Worth knowingFive homes, five rate sheets, and the spread is large: a semi-private veteran bed costs $144.28 a day at Homelake and $254.62 at Fitzsimons. Where you are willing to live is worth real money here.

Worth knowingThe domiciliary cottages at Homelake are the cheapest option in the system at $59.95 a day for an income-qualified veteran, and they are assisted-living style rather than nursing care — 48 renovated cottages rather than a ward.

Worth knowingMemory care is offered at all five, with secure units at Fitzsimons, Florence, Rifle and Walsenburg. Respite stays are offered at Florence, Homelake, Rifle and Walsenburg but not at Fitzsimons.

Sources

authority · published policyDepartment of Human Services — Veterans Community Living Centers: eligibility and admission, rates and payment

Why only one source type: The department publishes eligibility, the five locations and every centre’s daily rates on one page. No statute or rule text on the centres was read alongside it this session.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.