Original Medicare does not pay for a walk in tub or shower, because federal rules treat bathtub seats, lifts and grab bars as not primarily medical. Help can come from a Medicare Advantage safety benefit, Arkansas ARChoices, a VA HISA grant, or medical tax rules.
Updated October 2026. General information, not medical, tax, insurance or legal advice.
Original Medicare does not pay for a walk in tub or a walk in shower, because the federal equipment list treats bathtub seats, bathtub lifts and grab bars as not primarily medical. Real help exists elsewhere: some Medicare Advantage plans cover bathroom safety devices, Arkansas Medicaid's ARChoices waiver covers home adaptations for people who qualify, veterans can apply for a VA HISA grant, and IRS rules can treat part of the cost as a medical expense. Each rule below is quoted from its source.
Medicare Part B pays for durable medical equipment, and a walk in tub does not fit the definition. Medicare.gov defines that equipment as items that are durable, “Used for a medical reason”, “Typically only useful to someone who is sick or injured”, used in your home and “Expected to last at least 3 years.” Anyone in the household can bathe in a walk in tub, so it fails the sick or injured test.
The CMS National Coverage Determination 280.1 lists the bathroom items directly. Bathtub seats are marked Deny as a “comfort or convenience item; hygienic equipment; not primarily medical in nature.” Bathtub lifts are marked Deny as a “convenience item; not primarily medical in nature”, and grab bars are marked Deny as a “self help device; not primarily medical in nature.” One narrow exception exists: whirlpool bath equipment can be covered for a homebound patient, with each claim sent to Medicare medical staff for a decision. That is a case by case equipment ruling, not money to remove a tub and install a new bathing system.
Some can, and it is the most common route for Medicare members. The CMS Medicare Managed Care Manual, chapter 4, lets Medicare Advantage plans, which are Part C, offer as a supplemental benefit “specific nonMedicare covered safety devices to prevent injuries in the bathroom”, and says the benefit may include an in home bathroom safety inspection by a qualified health professional. The devices must be judged necessary by the occupational therapist or other provider doing the assessment, and the member approves them.
In practice that usually means grab bars, a shower seat or a handheld sprayer, not a full tub replacement, and each plan sets its own limits. Call the number on your member card and ask two things: does the plan cover bathroom safety devices this year, and does it require an in home safety assessment first. Get the answer in writing before you plan around it.
Usually not. Medicare.gov describes Medigap as extra insurance that helps pay your share of costs in Original Medicare, “like copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles.” When Original Medicare does not cover an item, there is no Medicare share for a Medigap policy to pick up, so a walk in tub stays uncovered there too. Where Part B does cover equipment, you pay 20% of the approved amount after the Part B deductible, which shows how the shared cost model works.
Employer and individual health plans write their own equipment rules, so ask your insurer in writing whether bathing equipment or home modifications are ever covered and what documentation it wants. Homeowners insurance pays for covered damage to a house, not for planned accessibility upgrades, so it is not a funding source for this kind of project. Treat any promise of insurance coverage for a walk in tub as something to verify, not assume.
It can, for people who qualify for the ARChoices in Homecare waiver. The Arkansas Department of Human Services describes ARChoices as a Medicaid waiver that serves eligible adults with physical disabilities and people aged 65 or older. Applicants must be 21 through 64 with a physical disability or 65 and older, meet financial criteria, and meet the nursing home admission level of care criteria.
Its Environmental Accessibility Adaptions service covers “Physical adaptations to the home noted in the beneficiary's PCSP as necessary to ensure the health, welfare, and safety of the beneficiary.” The PCSP is the person centered service plan, so the change has to be in that plan before work is done. Bathing is one of the everyday activities the program names. To start, contact Access Arkansas at 855 372 1084 or visit access.arkansas.gov. Program limits and approvals change, so treat the waiver as a possibility to explore with a case manager rather than a promised payment.
Veterans have the clearest benefit. The VA Home Improvements and Structural Alterations grant, HISA, pays for medically necessary improvements, and the VA's own examples include changes to bathroom facilities and lowering bathroom sinks or counters. The lifetime amount is $6,800 for a service connected disability, or for a non service connected disability when the Veteran has a service connected rating of at least 50 percent. Other eligible Veterans can receive $2,000.
The application goes in before any work starts. It needs a prescription written or approved by a VA physician with the diagnosis and medical justification, VA Form 10 0103, an itemized estimate of labor, materials, permits and inspections, and a color photograph of the unimproved area. Start with your VA care team, ask for the estimate in itemized form at your free in home consultation, and wait for approval before scheduling an install.
Partly, in some cases. IRS Publication 502 lists “Installing railings, support bars, or other modifications to bathrooms” among home changes that can count as medical care, and grab bars anywhere in the home qualify too. You can deduct only the part of total medical and dental expenses above 7.5% of adjusted gross income, and only when you itemize.
The rule also excludes the decorative part of a project. “Additional costs for personal motives, such as for architectural or aesthetic reasons, aren't medical expenses.” So a doctor's note that explains the medical need, plus an estimate that separates safety features such as the low threshold, seat and grab bars from finish choices, is worth having. A tax preparer can tell you whether your own numbers clear the 7.5% line.
Most Arkansas homeowners pay directly, sometimes with a program covering a part. Typical Bath Planet installed ranges run $14,000 to $20,000 for a walk in tub, with a standard soaker toward the low end, and $20,000 to $36,000 for a fully loaded walk in tub with a shower and rain shower head. Those ranges are the same across Arkansas. A low step walk in shower is the other common choice at $15,000 to $24,000.
The reason these programs exist is fall risk. CDC researchers estimated 234,094 nonfatal bathroom injuries treated in emergency departments in 2008, wrote that “Falls were the most common primary cause of injury (81.1%)”, and found the highest injury rates in or around the tub or shower. Among Arkansans 65 and older, Census ACS data show 26.4 percent report an ambulatory difficulty, the group a low entry bath is built for.
| Program | What it can pay for | Key rule |
|---|---|---|
| Original Medicare (Part B) | Durable medical equipment | Bathtub seats, lifts and grab bars marked Deny in NCD 280.1 |
| Medicare Advantage (Part C) | Bathroom safety devices, if the plan offers it | Supplemental benefit; may include an in home safety inspection |
| ARChoices in Homecare | Environmental Accessibility Adaptions | Ages 21 through 64 with a disability or 65 and older; nursing home level of care |
| VA HISA grant | Medically necessary bathroom changes | $6,800 or $2,000 lifetime, approved before work |
| IRS Publication 502 | Bathroom modifications for medical care | Only expenses above 7.5% of AGI, when itemizing |
Source: Medicare.gov; CMS NCD 280.1; CMS Medicare Managed Care Manual chapter 4; Arkansas DHS; VA; IRS.
Original Medicare still does not, even with a prescription, because the CMS equipment list marks bathtub seats and lifts as convenience items that are not primarily medical. The narrow exception is whirlpool bath equipment for a homebound patient, which Medicare medical staff decide case by case. A prescription does matter for other programs: the VA HISA grant requires one from a VA physician, and IRS rules treat a documented medical need as the basis for counting bathroom modifications.
A few plans offer a bathroom safety benefit, which CMS allows as a supplemental benefit for specific safety devices that prevent injuries in the bathroom, sometimes with an in home safety inspection by a qualified health professional. That typically means grab bars or a shower seat rather than a whole tub. Each plan decides whether to offer it and sets its own limits, so call the member services number on your card and ask for the answer in writing.
ARChoices in Homecare serves people 21 through 64 with a physical disability and people 65 and older who meet financial criteria and the nursing home admission level of care. Its Environmental Accessibility Adaptions service covers physical changes to the home listed in the person centered service plan as necessary for health, welfare and safety. Contact Access Arkansas at 855 372 1084 to start the eligibility process before planning any work.
HISA is a lifetime benefit of $6,800 for a service connected disability, or for any disability when the Veteran has a service connected rating of at least 50 percent, and $2,000 for other eligible Veterans. The VA lists bathroom changes and lowered bathroom sinks among covered changes. You apply first, with a VA physician's prescription, an itemized estimate and a color photograph of the area, and wait for approval before the work.
Not under Original Medicare, which covers neither as a remodel. The difference shows up in other programs: the VA lists medically necessary bathroom changes among HISA improvements, and ARChoices pays for adaptations written into a care plan, which often favors a low threshold walk in shower over a tub. Typical Bath Planet installed ranges are $15,000 to $24,000 for a low step walk in shower.
Get approval in writing first. Programs such as HISA and ARChoices approve the work before it starts and may not pay for an install that is already done. Ask your doctor or VA care team for documentation, call your Medicare Advantage plan about bathroom safety devices, keep an itemized estimate that separates safety features from finishes for IRS purposes, and only then schedule the install.
No, Original Medicare Part B does not cover walk in tubs, because bathtub seats, lifts and grab bars are marked Deny in CMS National Coverage Determination 280.1. Other programs can pay in some cases. The VA HISA grant covers medically necessary bathroom changes, at $6,800 or $2,000 lifetime. Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans may offer bathroom safety devices as a supplemental benefit, and some include an in home safety inspection. ARChoices in Homecare can fund accessibility adaptions for people ages 21 through 64 with a disability, or 65 and older, who meet nursing home level of care. Under IRS Publication 502, bathroom modifications for medical care count only for expenses above 7.5% of AGI, and only when you itemize. Your plan, your medical need and your veteran status decide what applies, so confirm approval with the program before ordering.
No, Original Medicare Part B does not cover walk in tubs in Arkansas, since bathtub seats, lifts and grab bars are marked Deny in National Coverage Determination 280.1. Some Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans offer bathroom safety devices as a supplemental benefit, and a few include an in home safety inspection, so check your plan's benefit list. Other programs can pay instead. According to the VA, the HISA grant covers medically necessary bathroom changes, at $6,800 or $2,000 lifetime. ARChoices in Homecare can fund Environmental Accessibility Adaptions for ages 21 through 64 with a disability or 65 and older who need nursing home level of care. IRS Publication 502 allows medical bathroom modifications as a deduction only for expenses above 7.5% of AGI, and only when you itemize. Confirm which source applies before you sign a contract, because approval timing can decide whether the cost is covered.
Free in home design consultation, a written price, and an install that usually takes one day. Showrooms in Hot Springs and Little Rock.
Book My Free Consultation →or call (501) 760-5901