1. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, admission to a state veterans home shall be limited to Texas Veterans.

2. (b) For purposes of this program, a Texas Veteran is someone who:

   1. (1) is at least 18 years of age and a citizen of the United States of America;

   2. (2) Meets the following service requirements:

      1. (A) has served not less than 90 continuous days on active duty in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, United States Public Health Service or reserve component of one of the listed branches of service, unless discharged earlier because of a service-connected disability, and who has not been dishonorably discharged from military service; or
      2. (B) has enlisted or received an appointment in the Texas National Guard, who has completed all initial active duty training required as a condition of the enlistment or appointment, and who on the date of filing the application has not been dishonorably discharged from the Texas National Guard; and
   3. (3) was a bona fide resident of Texas at the time of enlistment, induction, commissioning, appointment or drafting; or has resided in Texas continuously for at least one year immediately before applying for admission. For purposes of determining if a veteran has resided in Texas for one year, the Board may require an affidavit from the veteran or the veteran's guardian, setting forth residence addresses for this one-year period. In addition, the veteran, and/or guardian may be required to furnish documentary evidence of such residence, including, but not limited to driver's licenses, voter registrations, tax receipts, W-2 forms, etc.

   4. (4) The term also includes:

      1. (A) the unmarried surviving spouse of a veteran who died or who is identified as missing in action if the deceased or missing veteran meets the requirements in this section, with the exception that the deceased or missing veteran need not have served 90 continuous days under paragraph (2)(A) of this subsection, and if the deceased or missing veteran was a bona fide resident of Texas at the time of the enlistment, induction, commissioning, appointment or drafting; and
      2. (B) the spouse of a living Texas veteran
3. (c) Admission will also be dependent on a determination that the veteran has a medical necessity requiring long-term care.
4. (d) Notwithstanding any provision above to the contrary, no more than 25% of the occupants at any one time may be veteran-related family members; i.e. spouses and/or surviving spouses.
5. (e) In considering admission applications, where possible, preference should be given to veterans who would otherwise meet institutional Medicaid eligibility criteria, as determined by the Texas Department of Human Services, but state Medicaid payments not be used as part of the veteran's payment for care and residence costs.

Source Note:The provisions of this §176.7 adopted to be effective November 24, 1997, 22 TexReg 11092; amended to be effective May 18, 2000, 25 TexReg 4353.