Eligibility and priority of admittance.

(1) To be eligible for admittance to the home, the person must be a veteran as provided in s. 1.01(14) or have eligible peacetime service as defined in s. 296.02, or be the spouse or surviving spouse of a veteran, and must:

(a) Be in need of nursing home care.

(b) Be a resident of the state at the time of application for admission to the home.

(c) Not owe money to the department for services rendered during any previous stay at a department facility.

(d) Have applied for all financial assistance reasonably available through governmental sources.

(e) Have been approved as eligible for care and treatment by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

(2) The director may waive the residency requirement for a veteran who is otherwise eligible under Florida law for admittance to a home. The waiver must be limited to a veteran who is a disaster evacuee of a state that is under a declared state of emergency.

(3) Admittance priority must be given to eligible persons in the following order of priority:

(a) An eligible veteran who is a resident of the State of Florida.

(b) An eligible veteran who has a service-connected disability as determined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, or was discharged or released from military service for disability incurred or aggravated in the line of duty and the disability is the condition for which nursing home care is needed.

(c) An eligible veteran who has a non-service-connected disability and is unable to defray the expense of nursing home care and so states under oath before a notary public or other officer authorized to administer an oath.

(d) The spouse or surviving spouse of a veteran described in this subsection.