The short answer: Original Medicare, Part A and Part B, does not pay for a walk in tub or a walk in shower as a bathroom remodel. Its equipment benefit covers durable medical equipment, and the federal list that tells Medicare contractors what to pay for marks bathtub seats, bathtub lifts, and grab bars as Deny. Real help does exist, but it comes from other places: some Medicare Advantage plans, Medicaid waiver programs for people who would otherwise need nursing home care, VA grants for veterans, and pre tax or tax deductible medical money. Each one has its own rules, and none of them is automatic. This page walks through every option we get asked about, quotes the rule, and links the source so you can check it yourself.
Updated September 24, 2026. Coverage rules change, so confirm the final answer with your own plan or program before you buy anything. Nothing on this page is a promise of benefits.
Medicare.gov defines durable medical equipment as equipment that is “Durable (can withstand repeated use), Used for a medical reason, Typically only useful to someone who is sick or injured, Used in your home, Expected to last at least 3 years.” The examples it lists are canes, commode chairs, crutches, hospital beds, walkers, wheelchairs, and oxygen equipment. When Part B does cover an item, you pay 20 percent of the Medicare approved amount after the Part B deductible.
A walk in tub or a walk in shower fails the “typically only useful to someone who is sick or injured” test, because anyone in the house can bathe in it. The CMS National Coverage Determination that lists durable medical equipment, section 280.1, spells out 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,” and grab bars are marked Deny as a self help device that is “not primarily medical in nature.” A walk in tub does not appear on the list as a covered item at all.
One narrow exception is worth knowing so nobody overstates the rule in either direction. The same list covers whirlpool bath equipment when a patient is homebound and has a condition for which the whirlpool bath “can be expected to provide substantial therapeutic benefit justifying its cost,” with each claim sent to Medicare medical staff for a decision. That is a case by case medical determination for the equipment, not a benefit that pays to remove a tub and build a new bathing space. If your doctor believes it applies to you, ask your doctor and Medicare before you plan around it.
Medicare Advantage plans can add extras that Original Medicare does not cover. The CMS Medicare Managed Care Manual, chapter 4, allows plans to offer, as a supplemental benefit, specific safety devices that Original Medicare does not cover “to prevent injuries in the bathroom,” and says the benefit may include an in home bathroom safety inspection “conducted by a qualified health professional.” In practice that usually means grab bars, a shower seat, or a handheld sprayer after an in home assessment, not a full tub replacement. Plans choose whether to offer it and set their own dollar limits, so the only reliable answer is your plan's Evidence of Coverage. Call the member services number on your card and ask two questions: does the plan cover bathroom safety devices, and does it require an in home safety assessment first.
A Medicare Supplement, or Medigap, policy does not open a new door here. Medicare.gov describes Medigap as a policy that helps pay your share of the costs in Original Medicare, “like copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles.” If Original Medicare does not cover a walk in tub, there is no Medicare share for a Medigap policy to pick up. Employer and individual health plans write their own durable medical equipment rules, so ask your insurer in writing whether bathing equipment or home modifications are covered and what medical documentation it needs. Homeowners insurance is written to pay for covered damage to the house, not for planned accessibility upgrades, so it is not a funding source for this work.
In Louisiana, the program that pays for bathroom accessibility work is the Community Choices Waiver, run by the Louisiana Department of Health Office of Aging and Adult Services. Its service list includes Environmental Accessibility Adaptations, which the department describes as home modifications such as ramps, widened doorways, grab bars, and a roll in shower. To qualify, a person must meet long term care Medicaid eligibility, be 21 or older, and meet nursing home level of care. Openings are offered from a Request for Services Registry, with priority groups first and everyone else first come, first served by the date of the request. To get on the registry, call Louisiana Options in Long Term Care at 877 456 1146. A support coordinator then builds the plan of care and requests approval from the OAAS regional office, so the adaptation is approved before any work is done.
Homeowners in our Tyler, Longview, and Texarkana markets who are enrolled in Texas Medicaid should know the Texas Health and Human Services STAR+PLUS handbook, section 6600, defines minor home modifications as adaptations that may include “modification of bathroom facilities,” with a lifetime limit of $7,500 per member and $300 a year for repairs once that limit is reached, arranged through the member's managed care organization. In Mississippi, the Division of Medicaid's Elderly and Disabled Waiver fact sheet lists environmental safety services, which cover minor home maintenance and repair, heavy household cleaning, and pest control rather than a bathroom remodel, so Jackson, Vicksburg, and Greenville homeowners should ask the Division of Medicaid at 800 421 2408 what applies before counting on it.
Veterans have the clearest path of anyone. The VA Home Improvements and Structural Alterations grant, known as HISA, pays for medically necessary changes, and the VA's own examples include roll in showers and lowered bathroom sinks and counters. It is a lifetime benefit of $6,800 for a service connected condition, or for any condition when the veteran has a service connected rating of 50 percent or more, and $2,000 for other eligible veterans. The application goes in before work starts and includes a prescription from a VA physician, cost estimates, and photos of the area, so talk to your VA care team first and keep every estimate in writing.
IRS Publication 502 treats home improvements made mainly for medical care as a medical expense. It lists “Installing railings, support bars, or other modifications to bathrooms” among the changes that usually do not raise a home's value, so their cost can be included in full. When an improvement does raise the value, only the part of the cost above that increase counts, and “Additional costs for personal motives, such as for architectural or aesthetic reasons, aren't medical expenses.” The deduction only helps if you itemize, and only for medical costs above 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income. Health Savings Account qualified expenses follow the same definition, per IRS Publication 969, so a letter from your doctor explaining the medical need is worth getting before you pay. Ask your tax preparer how it applies to you.
These programs exist because the tub is where falls happen. A CDC study in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report counted an estimated 234,094 nonfatal bathroom injuries treated in United States emergency departments in 2008 among people 15 and older. “Falls were the most common primary cause of injury (81.1%),” the highest injury rates occurred in or around the tub or shower, and the rate for people 85 and older reached 515.3 per 100,000. The CDC authors wrote that “adding grab bars both inside and outside the tub or shower might help prevent bathroom injuries.”
Most homeowners end up paying directly, sometimes with a program covering a piece of it. Across our Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas markets, a walk in tub typically runs $14,000 to $25,000 installed: about $14,000 to $19,000 for a soaker, $17,000 to $23,000 with air or water jets, $18,000 to $25,000 for a bariatric or wide door model, and $19,000 to $27,000 for a tub and shower combo. A low step acrylic walk in shower runs about $14,000 to $19,000, and a curbless or zero threshold shower about $18,000 to $26,000. Most installs take about one day for a tub and one to two days for a shower. Financing can spread the rest into monthly payments; see our financing guide and the cost index.
No walk in tub is covered as Medicare approved equipment, because Original Medicare pays for durable medical equipment and a walk in tub does not meet that definition. Medicare.gov requires equipment to be typically only useful to someone who is sick or injured, and the CMS equipment list, National Coverage Determination 280.1, marks bathtub seats and bathtub lifts as Deny, comfort or convenience items. The one listed exception is whirlpool bath equipment for a homebound patient when Medicare medical staff find a substantial therapeutic benefit, decided claim by claim. Be careful with any offer of a free or zero dollar walk in tub through Medicare, and get the coverage decision in writing from Medicare or your plan before you sign. Real help more often comes from a Medicare Advantage bathroom safety benefit, a Medicaid waiver, a VA HISA grant of up to $6,800, or pre tax HSA money.
It can, through the Louisiana Department of Health Community Choices Waiver, but only for people who qualify and only after approval. The waiver's Environmental Accessibility Adaptations service covers home modifications such as ramps, widened doorways, grab bars, and a roll in shower. To qualify a person must meet long term care Medicaid eligibility, be 21 or older, and meet nursing home level of care. Openings are offered from a Request for Services Registry, so there is often a wait. Call Louisiana Options in Long Term Care at 877 456 1146 to be added.
Yes, when the change is medically necessary. The VA HISA grant pays for home changes such as roll in showers, up to a lifetime limit of $6,800 for a service connected condition or for veterans rated 50 percent or more service connected, and up to $2,000 for other eligible veterans. The application needs a VA physician's prescription, cost estimates, and photos, and it must be approved before work starts. Talk to your VA care team first.
Some plans help with bathroom safety, but a full walk in tub is rarely what they pay for. CMS allows Medicare Advantage plans to offer specific non Medicare covered safety devices to prevent injuries in the bathroom, often after an in home safety inspection by a qualified health professional, per the Medicare Managed Care Manual, chapter 4. Each plan decides whether to offer it and how much it pays. Check your plan's Evidence of Coverage or call member services.
Possibly, for the medically necessary part. IRS Publication 502 counts installing railings, support bars, or other modifications to bathrooms as a medical expense that can usually be included in full, while costs for aesthetic reasons do not count. The deduction applies only if you itemize, and only above 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income. HSA qualified expenses follow the same definition. Get a doctor's note and ask your tax preparer.
No. Medigap helps pay your share of costs for services Original Medicare covers, such as copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles, according to Medicare.gov. Because Original Medicare does not cover a walk in tub, there is no Medicare share for a Medigap policy to pay.
A walk in tub typically runs $14,000 to $25,000 installed in our Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas markets, with a soaker around $14,000 to $19,000, a jetted model $17,000 to $23,000, and a tub and shower combo $19,000 to $27,000. Most installs take about one day. Tubbs by Grubbs offers financing and gives an exact price at a free in home estimate.
No. Original Medicare Part A and Part B do not pay for a walk in tub, because a tub is not durable medical equipment under Medicare's rules. Medicare.gov requires covered equipment to be used for a medical reason, typically only useful to someone who is sick or injured, and expected to last at least 3 years. The CMS equipment list, National Coverage Determination 280.1, marks bathtub seats and bathtub lifts as Deny because they are convenience items, not primarily medical in nature. Where Part B does cover equipment, you pay 20 percent of the approved amount after the deductible, but a walk in tub never reaches that step. Help comes from elsewhere: some Medicare Advantage plans cover bathroom safety devices, the VA HISA grant pays up to $6,800 or $2,000 for eligible veterans, and IRS Publication 502 lets the medically necessary part count as a medical expense. A walk in tub typically runs $14,000 to $25,000 installed in our markets.
No. Medicare is a federal program, so the answer is the same in Louisiana as everywhere: Original Medicare Part A and Part B do not pay for a walk in tub, because it does not meet Medicare.gov's definition of durable medical equipment, and the CMS equipment list marks bathtub seats and lifts as Deny. What Louisiana adds is Medicaid. The Louisiana Department of Health Community Choices Waiver funds Environmental Accessibility Adaptations, including grab bars and a roll in shower, for people who are 21 or older, meet long term care Medicaid eligibility, and meet nursing home level of care. Openings come from a Request for Services Registry, reached through Louisiana Options in Long Term Care at 877 456 1146. Louisiana veterans can apply for the VA HISA grant, up to $6,800 for service connected conditions or $2,000 otherwise, before work begins. Some Medicare Advantage plans sold in Louisiana cover bathroom safety devices, so read your Evidence of Coverage. A walk in tub typically runs $14,000 to $25,000 installed.
No, Original Medicare (Parts A and B) does not pay for grab bars or a shower seat, because according to Medicare.gov these are convenience items rather than durable medical equipment. For items that do qualify, such as walkers, Part B pays 80 percent of the approved amount after the yearly deductible, but bathroom safety products fall outside that rule. Some Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans include a bathroom safety allowance, so check your plan's benefits before buying. What you pay depends on the product and the wall. The ADA Standards call for grab bars 1.25 to 1.5 inches in diameter mounted 33 to 36 inches above the floor, and bars must anchor into framing or blocking, which adds labor on tile walls. If you want a full accessible bathing solution instead of add on parts, Tubbs by Grubbs' own crews install walk in tubs and accessible showers, typically in about one day for a tub and one to two days for a shower.
No, Tubbs by Grubbs does not bill Medicare or work with Medicare, so a walk in tub or accessible shower is paid by the homeowner, with financing available. That matches how Medicare treats these products: Original Medicare Part A and Part B do not pay for walk in tubs, because Medicare.gov does not count them as durable medical equipment. Other programs can cover part of the cost. Veterans may qualify for the VA Home Improvements and Structural Alterations grant, up to $6,800 for a service connected condition under 38 CFR 17.3105, and some Medicare Advantage plans include a bathroom safety allowance, so check your plan benefits before you buy. The published installed range for most walk in tubs is $14,000 to $25,000, and the exact quote comes from a free in home estimate.
Usually not. Original Medicare does not cover a walk in tub, because Medicare.gov limits durable medical equipment to items typically only useful to someone who is sick or injured, and a Medigap policy only pays your share of costs Original Medicare already covers, such as copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles. Employer and individual health plans set their own rules, so ask yours in writing and ask what medical documentation it requires. Homeowners insurance pays for covered damage, not planned accessibility upgrades. The programs that do help are narrower: some Medicare Advantage plans offer bathroom safety devices after an in home assessment, the Louisiana Community Choices Waiver funds a roll in shower for people who meet nursing home level of care, the Texas STAR+PLUS program allows up to $7,500 in lifetime minor home modifications, and the VA HISA grant pays up to $6,800. IRS Publication 502 also lets the medically necessary cost count toward the medical deduction above 7.5 percent of income.
No. Original Medicare treats a walk in shower the same way it treats a walk in tub: it is part of the house, not durable medical equipment, so Part A and Part B do not pay to build one. The CMS equipment list, National Coverage Determination 280.1, marks bathtub seats as Deny, a comfort or convenience item that is not primarily medical in nature, and grab bars as Deny, a self help device. Two programs do pay for showers in specific cases. The VA HISA grant lists roll in showers among its examples, with a lifetime limit of $6,800 for service connected conditions and $2,000 for other eligible veterans. In Louisiana, the Community Choices Waiver lists a roll in shower among its Environmental Accessibility Adaptations for people who meet nursing home level of care. A low step acrylic walk in shower typically runs $14,000 to $19,000 installed and a curbless shower $18,000 to $26,000, usually finished in one to two days.
No. Medicare coverage does not change with age, so a walk in tub is not covered for a 70 or 90 year old any more than for a younger enrollee. Original Medicare only pays for durable medical equipment, which Medicare.gov defines as typically only useful to someone who is sick or injured and expected to last at least 3 years, and the CMS equipment list marks bathtub seats and lifts as Deny. Age does matter for risk: a CDC study in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report found the bathroom injury rate for people 85 and older reached 515.3 per 100,000, and 81.1 percent of those injuries were falls. For seniors the real options are a Medicare Advantage bathroom safety benefit, the Louisiana Community Choices Waiver for people who meet nursing home level of care, the VA HISA grant of up to $6,800 for veterans, and the medical expense rules in IRS Publication 502. A soaker walk in tub typically runs $14,000 to $19,000 installed, usually in about one day.
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