State Veterans Homes — No Cost at 70% and Above
Four state homes providing nursing home level care. At a 70% to 100% service-connected rating — or at any rating where the service-connected disability is the reason care is needed — the care is at no cost. Spouses, widows and Gold Star parents can be admitted.
Verified August 22, 2026
What this benefit is
Four state homes providing nursing home level care. At a 70% to 100% service-connected rating — or at any rating where the service-connected disability is the reason care is needed — the care is at no cost. Spouses, widows and Gold Star parents can be admitted.
What it's worth: Nursing home care at no cost at a 70% to 100% rating, or where the service-connected condition is the reason for care
- Where the no-cost rule does not reach you, the homes are paid the way any nursing facility is — Medicare, Medicaid, third party insurance and private pay.
- Admissions are made on a space available basis, so eligibility is not the same as a bed.
Who is entitled to it
- Your discharge meets the admission standard.
- Your home is in Washington.
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
- 1Confirm you need nursing home level care — that is a condition of admission, and the Soldiers Home at Orting does not provide assisted living.
- 2Pick a home: Orting (128 beds), Port Orchard/Retsil (240 beds), Spokane (100 beds) or Walla Walla (80 beds). The application asks you to circle one.
- 3Service in any branch at any time counts, including the National Guard, with an honorable discharge — or with existing eligibility for federal VA monetary benefits.
- 4Ask about the family routes: spouses of residents, widows of eligible veterans, and Gold Star parents who lost a child in service are all admissible.
- 5If your discharge was less than honorable solely because of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, say so — the department admits on that basis regardless of the characterisation of service.
- 6Send the application by mail, fax, email or in person; there is no requirement to deliver it yourself.
- Form
- Application for Admission
- File with
- The Department of Veterans Affairs, naming the home you want
- Documents you will need
- dd214 · va benefit summary letter
- Annual recertification
- The office asks you to confirm each year.
Sources
- authority · published policyWashington Department of Veterans Affairs — Veterans Homes (four homes and bed counts, admission eligibility, family routes, no-cost care at 70%–100%)
- operating · published policyWashington Department of Veterans Affairs — Veterans Homes admission application (facility selection, submission routes)
This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.