24 U.S.C. § 412 — Residents of Retirement Home

(a) Persons eligible to be residents: Unless subsection (b) makes them ineligible, the following veterans — those whose service was at least half non-commissioned (other than as a warrant officer or limited-duty officer) — may become residents: (1) people discharged or released after 20 or more years of active service; (2) people the Chief Operating Officer determines have a service-connected disability incurred in the line of duty; (3) people who served in a war theater during a war Congress declared, or who qualified for hostile-fire special pay, and are determined to be suffering from an injury, disease, or disability; (4) women who served in the Armed Forces before June 12, 1948, whom the Chief Operating Officer determines are eligible for compelling personal reasons; and (5) people eligible for military retired pay under 10 U.S.C. chapter 1223 who are also (A) eligible for VA care, (B) enrolled in TRICARE (10 U.S.C. chapter 55), or (C) enrolled in an Affordable Care Act qualified health plan the Chief Operating Officer accepts. (b) Persons ineligible to be residents: (1) anyone who (A) has been convicted of a felony, or (B) was discharged or released under other-than-honorable conditions; and (2) anyone with substance abuse or mental health problems — unless the Chief Operating Officer determines that (A) a qualified health professional the Retirement Home selected has evaluated them, (B) the Retirement Home can accommodate their condition, and (C) they agree to whatever conditions of residency the Retirement Home requires. (c) Acceptance: To apply, an eligible person submits an application to that facility's Administrator, in the form and with the information the Chief Operating Officer requires. (d) Priorities for acceptance: The Chief Operating Officer must set up a system of priorities so the most deserving applicants get accepted first whenever there are more eligible applicants than the Retirement Home can house. (e) Spouses of residents. (1) Except as subsection (d) otherwise provides, a resident's spouse may be admitted to that facility if the spouse (A) is a "covered beneficiary" under 10 U.S.C. § 1072(5), (B) is not ineligible under subsection (b), and (C) applies for admission the way subsection (c) requires. (2) A spouse admitted this way becomes a resident of the Retirement Home like anyone else covered by this chapter, except the Chief Operating Officer may set different rules for spouses.