Under the Other Needs Assistance (ONA) provision of FEMA’s Individuals and Households 
Program (IHP), eligible applicants for disaster assistance may be eligible to be reimbursed for 
the purchase or rental of a generator required for medical purposes.

To qualify for reimbursement:

*	The generator is purchased or rented due to an event that results in a presidentially 
declared emergency or major disaster;
*	The applicant’s dwelling must be located in a declared area designated for Individual 
Assistance;
*	An applicant must provide proof-of-purchase or rental receipts for the generator;
*	The generator must be needed for a medically required appliance or piece
*	of equipment; and
*	There must be proof that the appliance or equipment was required for medical 
purposes.

The qualifying incident period for an event starts on the date the Governor declares a state of 
emergency and ends at the closure of the incident date published by FEMA in the Federal 
Register, or the date power is restored to the applicant’s dwelling, which ever occurs
first.

Expenses incurred for generators purchased or 
rented outside the established timeframe are not 
eligible for reimbursement.

For purchased units, the cost of the generator will be 
reimbursed up to the prevailing retail rate 
(identified by FEMA) for a 5.5 kw-sized generator.

For rental units, reimbursement of rental cost 
is limited to the period that the generator was rented 
until commercial power was restored.  

Reimbursement of rental cost will not exceed 
established retail purchase pricing guidelines.





Items included under ONA are selected by the state, which shares the reimbursement cost 
with FEMA (75 percent FEMA, 25 percent state).

FEMA cannot reimburse for equipment paid for by another source, such as Medicare, 
Medicaid,
household or medical insurance. Duplicate payments or reimbursements for assistance 
provided by insurance are prohibited by law.

###


“FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, 
sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.”


           May 2011


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