Veterans home cost is a 5 step math problem. If you are afraid of math, do not despair. The goal is to keep this element of the estate plan simple.
In Minnesota, the cost for a veteran to live within a nursing home facility is broken into a daily fee.
The intent of this article is to help Minnesota veterans and their families understand where the daily fee is derived. In future articles, I will outline eligibility issues and cost waivers.
Thus, going forward, here is what and how local Veterans nursing homes calculates their daily fee.
Veterans Home Cost: Minnesota VA Nursing Homes
In case your estate planning process started with this article, here is the first major point: every facility or home has a different cost.
I know…this sounds more like a non-profit nursing facility, but it is true.
If your family lives near one facility, then knocking on one door is easy. If the veteran in your life lives in the Twin Cities, then perhaps there are a few more options.
None the less, the process of price shopping requires making contact with every veteran’s home.
Veterans Home Costs: MN Nursing Home Math
Math can be scary for a lot of people. Ultimately, I want to highlight four additional points:
- Minnesota rule 9050.0500 tells us how each VA facility calculates their daily fee,
- The calculation is based on a 12 month period (starting July 1),
- The cost per Veteran is calculated into a daily fee, and
- Each Veteran is billed the same daily fee.
Many of the military families I serve are surprised to find out each veteran is billed the same daily fee. Again, I am talking about a daily fee and will address fee waivers based on need and income in future posts.
Veterans Home Costs: 5 Simple Calculations
There are 5 basic calculations used to determine MN veterans home costs. Luckily, military families can start by finding out the following:
When talking with a veterans nursing home, ask:
What was the total direct cost for your facility?
What was the average number of residents last year on any given day?
Can you tell me what the total indirect cost was at your facility?
Then, proceed with the chart below to calculate the daily fee for a veteran to live at the nursing home:
A = the total number of direct costs for a particular campus.