VA HISA grant: how to qualify

HISA, Home Improvements and Structural Alterations, is a VA benefit that pays for medically necessary changes to a veteran’s primary residence. Ramps, roll in showers, widened access, lowered counters, and the plumbing or electrical work needed to run home medical equipment.

Two things about it surprise people. It is available to renters as well as homeowners. And it does not require a service connected disability in every case, there is a second tier for non service connected conditions.

• You are a veteran or service member enrolled in VA health care.
• A VA physician has documented that the modification is medically necessary for your condition.
• The property is your primary residence.
• You own or rent, renters qualify, with written authorization from the property owner.

Which tier you fall into is determined by your disability status, not by the cost of the work. If you hold a service connected rating of at least 50%, the higher tier applies even for modifications addressing an unrelated, non service connected condition.

• Entering and exiting the home, including permanent ramping.
• Access to essential lavatory and sanitary facilities, this is the line that covers roll in showers.
• Improving access to kitchen or bathroom sinks and counters, such as lowering them.
• Improving entrance paths or driveways in the immediate area of the home to allow access.
• Plumbing or electrical upgrades needed to install home medical equipment.

What HISA explicitly will not pay for:

• Walkways to buildings detached from the home.
• Spa, hot tub, or Jacuzzi.
• Exterior decking.
• New construction.
• Security systems, portable equipment, and routine maintenance.

1. 1Ask your VA physician for a prescription documenting the medical necessity of the specific modification. This is the foundation of the application and the step it most often fails on.
2. 2Complete VA Form 10-0103, the Veterans Application for Assistance in Acquiring Home Improvement and Structural Alterations.
3. 3Get contractor cost estimates for the proposed work.
4. 4Take photographs of the area to be modified.
5. 5If you rent, get written authorization from the property owner.
6. 6Submit through the prosthetics department at your local VA medical center.

• Vague medical documentation. “Patient has mobility difficulties” is weaker than a prescription naming the specific modification and the specific functional problem it solves. Ask the physician to be concrete.
• Starting work first. See above. This is the most common failure and the least recoverable.
• Requesting excluded items. Decking, hot tubs, and detached building walkways are named exclusions. A request bundling them with eligible work slows everything down.
• Missing landlord authorization. Renters do qualify, but not without the owner’s written consent in the file.
• Spending the benefit piecemeal. Not a rejection, but the most expensive mistake. It is a lifetime cap.

Two larger VA grants exist for veterans with qualifying service connected disabilities: SAH (Specially Adapted Housing) and SHA (Special Home Adaptation). Both are substantially bigger than HISA and are aimed at severe service connected disabilities, typically loss of use of limbs, certain vision impairments, or severe burns.

We are deliberately not publishing SAH and SHA dollar figures here. Those caps are indexed and adjusted annually, and a stale number in a guide like this is worse than no number. Check the current amounts directly at va.gov’s disability housing grants page, and ask about them if your disability is service connected. You may qualify for far more than HISA’s $6,800.

HISA can often sit alongside other funding. A common pattern: HISA covers the roll in shower, an Area Agency on Aging installs the entry ramp free, and a Medicare Advantage allowance pays for grab bars. Tell each program what else you have applied for, some coordinate, and none appreciate discovering it later.

Our full funding guide covers Medicaid HCBS waivers, Medicare Advantage, Area Agencies on Aging, and USDA Section 504, including the eligibility rules and the catches for each. If you are pricing specific work first, the ramp cost guide and bathroom modification guide give you the numbers to put in the application.