I am enormously pleased that I recently won Senate approval to build a new VA nursing home in Beckley, on available land purchased in the early 1990's with this very goal in mind. With the recent announcement that Clarksburg has been selected as the site for the proposed state nursing home for veterans, specialized VA long-term care will soon be more readily available to veterans throughout the state. Veterans and their families in West Virginia often tell me that they want their own freestanding VA nursing home. Veterans who can no longer be cared for in their own homes and cannot afford private nursing home care want to know that there is an alternative. If the VA does not have beds for them, they must turn to Medicaid, which requires that they spend down their assets to near poverty level.
Veterans deserve a better option.
The VA has been a leader in developing quality long-term care services that meet the special needs of aging veterans. As our World War II and Korean War veterans age, the VA has faced a high demand for long-term care services. Out of necessity, it has responded by creating some innovative programs. Our older veterans are leading richer lives because of these innovations. It seems like a natural fit, then, for VA to be the provider of nursing home care for veterans.