ElderHearth logo
ElderHearth

Stair Lift Assistance in Georgia: Who Pays and How to Apply (2026)

Stair lift assistance in Georgia: CCSP and SOURCE list no home modification service, but the Area Agencies on Aging run one for anyone over 60. The route.

By ElderHearth Editorial Team · July 4, 2026 · Updated September 17, 2026 · 6 min read

A home staircase in Georgia, the kind a stair lift is fitted to

ElderHearth offers general information, not medical, legal, or financial advice. Program rules change; confirm current details with the agencies linked below.

We have to begin stair lift assistance in Georgia with a correction. An earlier version of this page said Georgia's Medicaid waivers for older adults, CCSP and SOURCE, covered home modifications including stair lifts. We went back to the state's own description of those programs and to the 204-page waiver renewal application, and neither lists a home modification service. What Georgia does have is a non-Medicaid Home Modification and Repair service, run by the twelve Area Agencies on Aging under the Older Americans Act, open to anyone 60 or older, with the state's own manual setting out what it pays for and in what order of priority. That is where a stair lift comes from in Georgia, and it is a better door than the one we described before, because it does not require Medicaid at all.

What the Georgia Medicaid waivers actually cover

Georgia Medicaid's waiver programs page describes the two programs for older adults in one sentence: "Found in the Elderly & Disabled Waiver Program, the CCSP and SOURCE Programs serve frail elderly and disabled Georgians otherwise eligible under a nursing facility level of care through the provision of case management for service coordination, adult daycare, alternative living services, personal care, home-delivered meals, and respite care for family caregivers." That is the list. The renewal application for the Elderly and Disabled Waiver Program adds skilled nursing, emergency response, structured family caregiving, home-delivered services and an Assistive Technology service, which the application defines as "any technology, whether acquired commercially, modified, or customized, that is used to maintain or improve functional capabilities of waiver members with disabilities"; its examples are screen readers, alert devices, home automation and medication telecare, not construction, and the document contains no environmental modification service.

The one Georgia waiver whose services do include home modifications is the Independent Care Waiver Program, and it has an age window. Per the same page, "The ICWP offers services to a limited number of adults who apply between the ages of 21 and 64", and "Available services include personal support, home health services, specialized medical equipment and supplies, counseling, emergency response systems, and home modifications." A parent who is 65 when the stairs become the problem cannot enter it.

So for a parent over 65, CCSP and SOURCE are still worth pursuing for the care hours, the case manager and the respite, and the page says how: "To apply for services in either program, contact the Georgia Aging and Disability Resource Connections (ADRC)." But the stair lift request goes somewhere else.

Georgia's Home Modification and Repair service, for anyone over 60

The Division of Aging Services' Home and Community Based Services page states the program's basis and reach: "The Home and Community Based Services program is mandated through the Older Americans Act. It assists individuals age 60 and older and their caregivers." Its in-home service list includes Home Modification and Repair alongside homemaker, personal care, chore and assistive technology services, and the Division "administers, contracting with 12 Area Agencies on Aging (AAA), to regionally manage the program and consumer case management."

The rules are in chapter 314 of the Division's HCBS manual. The definition is broad enough for a stair lift: home modifications are "the installation of adaptive and assistive devices and/or structural alterations to improve the accessibility and mobility both within and outside the residence." Three lines from the manual shape a request:

  • It pays last. "Repairs and modifications are provided with the program resources only when there are no other public or private resources available to pay for the repair/modification home assessment, materials, equipment, supplies, labor, and any necessary inspections." Expect the AAA to ask what else has been tried, including Medicaid if the parent is on it.
  • Equipment may be reused. "Whenever possible, adaptive equipment and modifications are planned and installed in such a manner that they may be recycled and made available to other clients, when no longer needed in the residence of original installation." A stair lift that can be removed and refitted is the kind of purchase this rule favors, which is an argument for a straight rail.
  • Priority follows need, not income. Services go to "persons who have a physical or mental disability or disorder that restricts his/her ability to perform basic activities of daily living (ADLs) and/or instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs)", and when money is short the manual's preference list starts with "Persons 60 years of age or older", then "Persons in greatest economic need", "Persons in greatest social need" and "Persons who are at risk of institutionalization". The AAA scores need with the DON-R assessment, and the manual says AAAs "should prioritize individuals who have impairment and/or unmet need in any of the domains with scores of 2 or greater."

Per the same manual, structural work "shall conform to minimum Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards", local permits apply, and the AAA approves the modification, coordinates the contractor and verifies the finished work. The service is not available to someone living in a nursing home or personal care home.

Getting the request in front of the right office

Both doors open at the same number. The Division of Aging Services lists its toll-free line as (866) 552-4464, and the ADRC contact page gives the same number for the twelve regional Aging and Disability Resource Connections. Call it, ask for the AAA that covers your parent's county, and make two requests in the same call: a screening for CCSP or SOURCE if your parent may be Medicaid-eligible, and an assessment for Home Modification and Repair regardless. Say that the stairs are the risk; the DON-R score that drives priority is built from exactly that kind of detail. Then ask the AAA two questions the manual does not answer, because they change by region and by year: whether the current year's funding is open for new modification requests, and whether a stair lift has been approved under the service in that region before.

Medicaid eligibility itself, for the CCSP or SOURCE side, uses the institutional standard of 300 percent of the federal SSI rate, $2,982 a month in 2026 on the Social Security Administration's cost-of-living notice, and the Department of Community Health confirms the resource rules at application. None of that gates the Home Modification and Repair service.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Medicaid cover stair lifts in Georgia? Not through CCSP or SOURCE, the waivers for older adults; the state's description of those programs and the waiver renewal application list no home modification service. The Independent Care Waiver does include home modifications, but only for people who apply between 21 and 64.

How do I get a free stair lift in Georgia? Call (866) 552-4464, ask for the Area Agency on Aging for your parent's county, and request an assessment for the non-Medicaid Home Modification and Repair service, which is open to people 60 and older under the Older Americans Act. The AAA scores need with the DON-R assessment and funds modifications when no other resource will pay.

Does the CCSP waiver cover home modifications? No. Georgia Medicaid describes CCSP and SOURCE as providing case management, adult day care, alternative living services, personal care, home-delivered meals and respite. The Assistive Technology service in the renewal application covers devices such as screen readers and alert systems, not structural work.

Is there an income limit for Georgia's home modification service? The Division of Aging Services program is for people 60 and older and their caregivers, and the manual prioritizes by need, age, economic and social need and risk of institutionalization rather than setting an income cutoff. When funds are short, the priority list decides who is served first.

The correction, and what it changes

The change for a Georgia family is a good one: the stair lift money was never in the Medicaid waiver, and the door it is behind has no Medicaid test. A veteran with a service-connected disability has a larger door still, the VA's Specially Adapted Housing and Special Home Adaptation grants, with the current figures in help paying for a stair lift, which also has the installed price ranges a straight and a curved lift fall into. For the relative who is certain Medicare will pay, does Medicare cover stair lifts? is the short answer, and our honest stair lift comparison is for after the AAA has said yes. If you are the one giving the daily care, Georgia's Structured Family Caregiving can pay a live-in family member; see how to get paid to care for a parent in Georgia. And if you want the whole plan read through before the call, our inbox is open; the stair lift is one piece of the aging-in-place plan we spend most of our time on.

Sources