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State Veterans Nursing Homes — Residency at Admission, and No Charge on the Federal 70% Route

Admission to a state veterans nursing home needs a discharge that is not dishonorable, a need for nursing care, and residency in this state as of the date of admission. Residents who meet the federal 38 U.S.C. 1745(a) test incur no charges at all.

Verified August 22, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: Skilled nursing care; no charge at all for a resident who meets the federal 38 U.S.C. 1745(a) test

No private-pay rate is claimed here. The regulation sets a method — total cost of care and community rates, priced separately for a semi-private room, a private room and a suite built to federal VA design standards — and does not print the resulting numbers.
The weight reflects what skilled nursing care costs privately, which is the alternative, not a figure the Commonwealth publishes.

Who is entitled to it

You are the servicemember or veteran.
Your discharge is not of a dishonorable nature.
You are 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

1The residency test is measured at the date of ADMISSION, not at application and not at enlistment — so a veteran returning to the Commonwealth for care is not shut out by a look-back period.
2There is no length-of-service test in the eligibility regulation. What it asks is that you are a veteran, that your discharge is not of a dishonorable nature, and that you need nursing care by reason of disease, wounds, age or otherwise.
3Several conditions are disqualifying and worth knowing before you apply: a diagnosis of acute mental illness, acute alcoholism, drug addiction, being continuously disruptive or dangerous to self or others, ventilator dependence, and needs the center cannot meet.
4Ask which billing route applies to you. A resident who meets the requirements of 38 U.S.C. 1745(a) incurs no charges. A Medicaid resident is charged monthly under the Medicaid regulations; a Medicare resident pays co-payments under federal rules; everyone else is private pay.
5Pay on time. Unpaid balances carry six percent annual interest under the charges regulation.

Form: Application for admission to a veterans center
File with: The Department of Veterans Affairs, or the center directly
Documents you will need: dd214 · va benefit summary letter
Annual recertification: The office asks you to confirm each year.

CorrectionMost state veterans homes admit spouses, and many summaries assume this one does. The current eligibility regulation defines a resident as a veteran of this Commonwealth admitted to a state veterans’ nursing facility, and contains no spouse or Gold Star provision at all. The older admission regulation, 17 KAR 3:040, has expired.

Worth knowingTwo regulations do the work and it is easy to read only one. 17 KAR 3:042 decides who gets in; 17 KAR 3:020 decides what they pay, including the no-charge rule for service-connected residents meeting the federal test.

Known gapNeither regulation prints a dollar rate, and the department’s own site could not be reached this session, so the current private-pay rates for a semi-private room, a private room and a suite are unverified and are not published here.

Sources

authority · regulation17 KAR 3:042 — Eligibility requirements for state veterans’ nursing homes (authorized by KRS 40.320, KRS 40.325(2))
operating · regulation17 KAR 3:020 — Charges for room and board, goods, and services at state veterans’ nursing homes (authorized by KRS 40.320, KRS 40.325(3))

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