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CA has several: Yountville, Redding and a few more. Would anyone reading this have first hand knowledge of what life is like there for a couple? Spouse qualifies, but I understand that placement for us would likely take 2 years after applying. Thanks in advance.

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No familiarity with CA.
Our closest is the postKatrina built one in Biloxi and it kinda has mixed reviews. The LTC skilled nursing sector seems to be good & families seem to be happy that their widowed parent is a resident there as all costs get taken care of within VA system. VA hospital & clinics are still way way short of MDs, NPs, etc. as VA pay is crap and the FMG MD & DDS pipeline has pretty wellstopped due to current administration view on FMGs.

Now the IL & AL VA housing is different and for Biloxi those have undergone a revision on residents share of costs to be paid for “rent” based on their VA pension and all other income and assets. It’s like VA is now doing what Medicaid does in that you have to document to be “at need” financially and what copay required is based on income & assets. You still can live there ‘cause your a veteran but will have to do a actual “needs based” copay. Folks who used to pay $200-300 a mo for an apt., now have that doubled, tripled if not more. And if not paid, you are asked to / have to move. The Sun Herald newspaper in Gulfport has run articles on this. But I think SH has a paywall beyond 2 articles.

My hubs has a client whose dad moved to LTC there. The waiting list was 2 years. If vet was Purple Heart they get priority placement on the list, so maybe 6 mos. Your rank is NOT a factor for placement on the list.

If they actually have $$ and were USAF, there is Blue Skies Village in TX that is viewed as really really good. It used to be Air Force Village & was a traditional tiered IL- NH facility on a pretty large campus of land. It is now Blue Skies, a CCRC, so there is now a $$$ buy-in, but health care wise it’s pretty amazing as they get access to Brooke, Wilford Hall and UTHSC-SA. Plus can get buried at Ft Sam. In general I’m not a fan of CCRCs but if I was AF officer level vet couple with $ and up for moving permanently to TX I’d look at Blue Skies.

waiting lists for anything VA is the norm. I’d suggest you put them on lists for all.
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Some of those facilities are not really set up for couples. Redding has single-occupancy rooms. Would be that an issue for you? The Cal Vet website has a lot of good information and describes all the facilities in this state. If possible, maybe you could arrange to visit the homes closest to you? The Redding facility is very nice. Weather is something else to consider. Redding gets very hot in the summer. Yountville is near Napa so it’s hotter there. If you wanted cooler weather, Chula Vista is on the coast so the weather would be milder there.
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pronker Feb 2019
Thanks for your reply. Single occupancy is no issue - I've been to the VA website and wondered if anybody on agingcare had first or even second hand knowledge of, for instance, basics like how is the food, are the folks friendly but not intrusive, or since Spouse is 100 percent VA medical covered but I am not, how would I arrange my health care? We are from the middle of the state so triple digit heat is not an issue. Looking at Redding, since it's newer than Yountville but farther from family, I'd prefer Yountville.
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Thanks for your reply, @igloo572. This information comes via third hand, since "My hubs has a client whose dad moved to LTC there. The waiting list was 2 years. " ?

I see. Yes, two years wait comports with prior information. The Vietnam Era Army was the branch for Spouse; "share of costs to be paid for “rent” based on their VA pension and all other income and assets" is about what was expected.
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Thanks for your insights.
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Anyone else have any experience or heard about how life for a couple is at the old soldiers' home?
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