Did you know?

HISA — VA money to modify your home

Ramps. Roll-in showers. Wider doorways. If a VA doctor says you need it to get around your own house, VA has a grant for it — and most people have never heard the name.

← Back to vsgsolutions.org VA's own HISA page
What HISA is. HISA stands for Home Improvements and Structural Alterations. It is a VA health care benefit that pays for medically necessary changes to your home. It is not a loan. You do not pay it back. It is open to veterans and servicemembers — you do not have to be discharged to use it. If you are still in and being medically boarded, this is available to you now.

HISA lifetime limits

HISA lifetime limitsservice-connected$6,800non-service-connected$2,000remaining$4,800
service-connected: $6,800; non-service-connected: $2,000; remaining: $4,800.38 CFR 17.3105, lifetime limits · Page reviewed September 2026.
What it covers

The changes VA will pay for

The test is medical necessity, not comfort or remodeling.

  • Permanent wheelchair ramps — wood or concrete, built onto the house, so you can get in and out of your home
  • Roll-in and walk-in showers
  • Widening doorways so a wheelchair or walker fits through
  • Lowering kitchen and bathroom counters and sinks
  • Electrical and plumbing changes so medical equipment can run in the home
  • Entrance paths or driveway work right at the house — only when it is building permanent ramping so you can reach the home
On bathrooms, say it VA's way. HISA pays for access to essential lavatory and sanitary facilities — the shower, the sink, the toilet you cannot reach. It is not a bathroom remodel budget. Ask for access, not for a renovation.
★ A prescription, not a wish list.
The money

Two amounts. Know which one is yours.

Both are LIFETIME limits — not yearly, not per project.

  • $6,800 lifetime — if the need comes from a service-connected condition, a condition VA treats as if it were service-connected, or you hold a service-connected rating of 50 percent or more (even when the modification itself is for a NON-service-connected condition).
  • $2,000 lifetime — non-service-connected condition in every other case.
Do not assume $6,800 before VA says so. VA's Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service states that combined ratings are not used for that 50-percent test. VA's own regulation, 38 CFR 17.3105, does not spell the limit out that way — the two sources are not lined up. Confirm your number with the PSAS office at your VA medical center before you sign anything with a contractor. A 30 plus 30 that combines to 50 could come back at $2,000.
A servicemember who meets 38 CFR 17.3102(b) gets the same $6,800 limit as a veteran with a service-connected condition.
★ Lifetime means lifetime. Spend it on purpose.
Come back for more

Used HISA already? The door reopens.

This is the part nobody tells you, and it is real money.

Under 38 CFR 17.3105, if you already used the $2,000 tier (or the older $1,200 tier, for awards before May 5, 2010) and you are LATER granted service-connected disability compensation, you may apply again for the difference — $6,800 minus the HISA money you have already used.
Plain example: took $2,000 in 2019 for a non-service-connected need, won service connection in 2024. Roughly $4,800 is still sitting there. Nobody mails you a letter about it. You have to ask.
Only one office can tell you what is left. PSAS at your VA medical center tracks how much of your lifetime cap you have used. Older awards count against the total, including awards made before May 5, 2010 under the old $4,100 and $1,200 caps. Ask them for the remaining balance in writing.
★ Ask what is left. Then ask for it.
Not covered

What VA will not pay for

People spend their own money on these and then get denied.

  • Exterior decking
  • Spas, hot tubs, Jacuzzi-type tubs
  • Home security systems
  • Routine repairs and maintenance (roof, furnace, air conditioning replacement)
  • Anything removable — portable ramps, porch lifts, stair glides
  • Walkways out to exterior buildings — a poured path to a detached garage or workshop
  • New construction (adding rooms)
The removable rule catches good people. "Wheelchair ramp" means a permanent wood or concrete ramp built onto the house. Buy a portable ramp off the internet and HISA pays nothing.
Driveway and path work is narrow. VA covers entrance paths or driveway work in the immediate area of the home only to build permanent ramping that gets you into the house. Repaving a driveway or pouring a path to a shed or garage is not covered.
★ Permanent and medical. That is the line.
How to file

What VA needs before it approves a dollar

The form is VA Form 10-0103 — Veterans Application for Assistance in Acquiring Home Improvements and Structural Alterations.

  1. Be enrolled in VA health care first. HISA is a VA medical benefit. If you are not enrolled, enroll on VA Form 10-10EZ — HISA is out of reach until you are.
  2. Get the prescription. A VA physician must write or approve it. It should carry your name, address and phone number, a description of the project and the alternatives considered, and your diagnosis with the medical reason you need the change.
  3. Complete VA Form 10-0103.
  4. Itemized cost estimate from the contractor — labor, materials, permits and inspections.
  5. Color photograph of the area to be changed, before any work.
  6. If you rent: a signed and notarized statement from the property owner authorizing the alteration.
  7. A site inspection by VA may be required before approval.
Do not start the work. Hire a contractor and begin before VA approves, and you can end up paying the entire bill yourself.
Renters qualify. You do not have to own the house. Get the landlord's signed, notarized authorization and file.
★ Approval first. Always.

VA Form 10-0103 on VA.gov

Bigger money · free help

If $6,800 will not do it, and who helps you at no charge

HISA is the small grant. VA runs two much larger ones.

  • Specially Adapted Housing (SAH)
  • Special Home Adaptation (SHA)
Those two are worth far more than HISA, and their maximums reset every 1 October. I will not print a dollar figure here that goes stale in a matter of days — get the current year's amounts straight from VA: va.gov/housing-assistance/disability-housing-grants. HISA is different — its $6,800 and $2,000 are fixed in 38 CFR 17.3105 and do not change each year.
Where to go: the Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service (PSAS) at your own VA medical center. That is the office that handles HISA. See the phone numbers below.
You never have to pay anyone for this. An accredited VSO representative will help you at no charge. HISA is applied for through PSAS at your VA medical center — not through a paid claims service.
★ Free help exists. Use it.
Where to call and where to go

Real numbers, real pages

Start at the PSAS office of your own VA medical center.

★ Call before you hire anyone.
Why I built this page. I have seen Soldiers and Families budget a project around a number that was not theirs, and I have seen veterans who used HISA years ago assume the door was shut for good. It is not. Ask PSAS what is left of your lifetime amount before you call a contractor. I bring the truth, simple and to the point.

Sources

Related: SAH and SHA adapted housing grants · What A VA Rating Actually Unlocks · At 100 Percent — Everything That Comes With It