VA HISA Grant: Amounts, Who Qualifies, How to Apply

The short answer: the VA's HISA grant (Home Improvements and Structural Alterations) pays for medically needed changes to a veteran's primary home, up to a lifetime limit of $6,800 for veterans with a service-connected disability, or with a rating of at least 50%, and $2,000 for everyone else. You apply through your local VA prosthetics office, and you need a VA doctor's prescription first.

This page rests on the VA's own pages, read 2026-11-07. The HISA page was last updated February 12, 2025. We are not the VA, and your local office makes the decision.

Which amount applies to you

$6,800 lifetime: a service-connected disability, a disability treated as service-connected (for example one acquired through VA treatment or vocational rehabilitation), or a non-service-connected disability if the veteran has a service-connected rating of at least 50%. Ratings cannot be combined to reach 50%.
$2,000 lifetime: any other disability.

It is a lifetime total, not a yearly one. Call your local Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service (PSAS) to find your remaining balance.

(VA HISA page)

What it pays for, and what it does not

Covered, according to the VA:

Changes that let you get in and out of the home
Essential bathroom facilities, such as a roll-in shower
Access to kitchen or bathroom sinks and counters, such as lowered fixtures
Permanent ramps on entrance paths or driveways near the home
Plumbing or electrical upgrades needed for home medical equipment

Not covered: walkways to outside buildings, exterior decking, new construction, spas and hot tubs, home security systems, removable equipment such as portable ramps, porch lifts and stair glides, and routine replacement of roofs, furnaces or air conditioning.

Note the stair glide exclusion. If the stairs are the problem, HISA will not pay for a stair lift. See our other pages on stair lift costs and on ways to avoid stairs.

How the limit meets real prices

The grant is small next to many jobs. As an illustration, not a quote: suppose a roll-in shower conversion costs $9,000. A veteran whose disability is service-connected falls in the $6,800 group whatever the rating, so the grant would cover $6,800 and the family would pay $2,200. A veteran with a non-service-connected disability and no 50% rating would get at most $2,000 and pay $7,000. The $9,000 figure is an assumption for the arithmetic only.

How to apply

The VA lists five items:

A prescription from a VA physician with your name, address and phone, a description of the project (area, type of change, alternatives considered, items to install), and the diagnosis and medical reason.
VA Form 10-0103, signed. You can ask for an advance payment on the form.
If you rent, a signed, notarized statement from the owner approving the work.
A written, itemized estimate covering labor, materials, permits and inspections.
A color photo of the area as it is now.

The VA may inspect the site. Find your PSAS office with the VA Facility Locator.

If you need more than HISA

Veterans with certain service-connected disabilities may qualify for larger grants. For fiscal year 2026 the VA lists a maximum of $126,526 for Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) and $25,350 for Special Home Adaptation (SHA). These are for a permanent home you own or will own and require a qualifying service-connected disability, such as loss of use of more than one limb or blindness in both eyes for SAH.

(VA disability housing grants, updated November 18, 2025)

Ask the PSAS office which grant fits before you choose a contractor, and do not start work before approval unless they tell you it is fine. We did not find the VA's rule on that point, so ask.