A Tornado Body Dryer costs $1,499, delivered. For a lot of the people who need one most — someone recovering from a stroke, a veteran with a spinal injury, a parent caring for a child with cerebral palsy — that is a real sum of money. What many of them don't know is that they may not have to pay it themselves.
Because the Tornado Body Dryer is an accessibility product that solves a specific daily-living problem — drying safely and independently after a shower — it sits inside the categories that grants, waivers, tax-advantaged accounts and charities are set up to fund. The problem has never been eligibility. The problem is that nobody explains the routes.
So here they are.
Start With One Piece of Paper
Almost every funding route below asks for the same document: a Letter of Medical Necessity from a physician, occupational therapist or physiotherapist. It sets out the diagnosis, explains why towel drying is difficult or unsafe for that person, and identifies a hands-free body dryer as the appropriate solution.
Get this letter first. It turns a body dryer from a "nice bathroom gadget" into prescribed adaptive equipment in the eyes of every program administrator you'll speak to. We provide a free template your clinician can adapt on our Funding & Eligibility page.
Veterans: The Strongest Route
If you are a US veteran with a service-connected disability, the VA is almost certainly your best starting point.
The HISA grant (Home Improvements and Structural Alterations) pays for medically necessary home modifications, including bathroom access and equipment. It requires a prescription from a VA physician, and for most veterans the lifetime limit for a service-connected condition would cover a Tornado Body Dryer in full.
The Specially Adapted Housing and Special Home Adaptation grants are larger and fund whole-bathroom adaptations for veterans with specific severe disabilities — loss of use of limbs, certain burns, blindness. A body dryer fits naturally into those projects.
VA Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service can issue assistive equipment directly to veterans enrolled in VA health care when a VA clinician prescribes it. Ask your VA occupational therapist to assess you for a body dryer as adaptive bathing equipment.
Whichever route you take, we offer a Veterans Discount on every order.
Medicaid Waivers
Most states run Home and Community-Based Services waivers for people who would otherwise need nursing-home care. Many of these include a service called environmental modifications or home accessibility adaptations. It exists precisely to fund the equipment and alterations that keep someone safe and independent at home.
The way in is your Medicaid case manager or support coordinator. Tell them you'd like a body dryer assessed as an environmental modification for safe, independent bathing. They'll need the Letter of Medical Necessity, an itemised quote (we'll provide it) and the product specification sheet.
A Word About Medicare
We'd rather tell you straight: Original Medicare does not usually cover bathroom safety equipment, because it doesn't class it as durable medical equipment. Some Medicare Advantage plans do offer supplemental benefits for bathroom safety and home modifications — call the number on your card and ask.
HSA and FSA Accounts
If you have a Health Savings Account or Flexible Spending Account, equipment that treats or mitigates a documented medical condition can be an eligible expense when it's supported by a Letter of Medical Necessity. Bathroom equipment prescribed for a mobility impairment, balance disorder or skin condition is commonly approved on that basis. Get the letter before you buy, keep it with your receipt, and check with your plan administrator — they make the final call.
Tax Deductions
Special equipment installed in a home for medical care can count as a deductible medical expense if a physician has recommended it. There's an income threshold and you have to itemise, so this is one to raise with your tax professional — but for a family already carrying significant medical costs, it adds up.
State Assistive Technology Programs
Every US state has a federally funded Assistive Technology Act program. They offer free device demonstrations, short-term equipment loans and, in most states, low-interest financing for assistive technology with flexible credit criteria. They also tend to know about regional grants that aren't listed anywhere online. Your local Center for Independent Living is another good first call for the same reason.
Charities
Our partner The No White Flags Project is a 501(c)(3) that provides Tornado Body Dryers at no cost to people with physical disabilities, with a particular focus on limb difference. The ALS Association, the National MS Society and Rebuilding Together all have local chapters that fund or lend home accessibility equipment.
Canada
Canadian customers have the Home Accessibility Tax Credit and the Medical Expense Tax Credit at federal level, Veterans Affairs Canada for veterans, and a patchwork of provincial home adaptation programs. Details are on our Funding & Eligibility page.
What We Do to Help
Tell us which program you're applying to and we'll supply an itemised quote in the format they need, the specification sheet, a product description letter, and — for government purchasers — our SAM.gov registration details. We're happy to talk directly to a case manager or occupational therapist if that helps.
"My elderly mother was having great difficulty holding onto a grab bar with one hand while trying to towel-dry with the other. It was an accident waiting to happen." — Gene B, Lafayette, IN
The dryer that solved Gene's mother's problem is exactly the kind of equipment these programs exist to fund. If cost is the only thing standing between you and safe, independent drying, start with the Letter of Medical Necessity — and then call us.
Find Out More
The Tornado Body Dryer is available now for delivery to all 50 US states and Canada at $1,499 including free shipping. Full details of every funding route are on our Funding & Eligibility page.
📞 +1 (463) 223-8920 📧 info@tornadobodydryers.com 🌐 www.tornadobodydryers.com
This article is general information, not medical, legal, tax or financial advice. Program rules and eligibility change — confirm current details with the program and a qualified professional.
