What Medical Expenses Are Includible?

 

1. Abortion:  You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay for a legal abortion..

 

2. Acupuncture:  You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay for acupuncture.

 

3. Alcoholism:  You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for an inpatient's treatment at a therapeutic center for alcohol addiction. This includes meals and lodging provided by the center during treatment.You can also include in medical expenses amounts you pay for transportation to and from meetings of an Alcoholics Anonymous Club in your community if the attendance is pursuant to medical advice that membership in the Alcoholics Anonymous Club is necessary for the treatment of a disease involving the excessive use of alcoholic liquors.

 

4. Ambulance:  You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for ambulance service.

 

5. Artificial Limb:  You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay for an artificial limb.

 

6. Artificial Teeth: You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay for artificial teeth.

 

7. Bandages: You can include in medical expenses the cost of medical supplies such as bandages used to cover torn skin.

 

8. Breast Reconstruction Surgery: You can include in medical expenses the amounts you pay for breast reconstruction surgery following a mastectomy for cancer.

 

9. Birth Control Pills: You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay for birth control pills prescribed by a doctor.

 

10. Braille Books and Magazines: You can include in medical expenses the part of the cost of Braille books and magazines for use by a visually impaired person that is more than the cost of regular printed editions.

 

11. Capital Expenses: You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for special equipment installed in a home, or for improvements, if their main purpose is medical care for you, your spouse, or your dependent. The cost of permanent improvements that increase the value of your property may be partly included as a medical expense. The cost of the improvement is reduced by the increase in the value of your property. The difference is a medical expense. If the value of your property is not increased by the improvement, the entire cost is included as a medical expense. Certain improvements made to accommodate a home to your disabled condition, or that of your spouse or your dependents who live with you, do not usually increase the value of the home and the cost can be included in full as medical expenses. These improvements include, but are not limited to, the following items.

Constructing entrance or exit ramps for your home, widening doorways at entrances or exits to your home.

widening or otherwise modifying hallways and interior doorways. installing railings, support bars, or other modifications to bathrooms, lowering or modifying kitchen cabinets and equipment, moving or modifying electrical outlets and fixtures. Installing porch lifts and other forms of lifts (but elevators generally add value to the house). Modifying fire alarms, smoke detectors, and other warning systems. Modifying stairways. Adding handrails or grab bars anywhere (whether or not in bathrooms). Modifying hardware on doors. Modifying areas in front of entrance and exit doorways. Grading the ground to provide access to the residence. Only reasonable costs to accommodate a home to a disabled condition are considered medical care. Additional costs for personal motives, such as for architectural or aesthetic reasons, are not medical expenses. Improvements to property rented by a person with a disability:  Amounts paid to buy and install special plumbing fixtures for a person with a disability, mainly for medical reasons, in a rented house are medical expenses. Example: John has arthritis and a heart condition. He cannot climb stairs or get into a bathtub. On his doctor's advice, he installs a bathroom with a shower stall on the first floor of his two-story rented house. The landlord did not pay any of the cost of buying and installing the special plumbing and did not lower the rent. John can include in medical expenses the entire amount he paid.

12. Car: You can include in medical expenses the cost of special hand controls and other special equipment installed in a car for the use of a person with a disability. Special design: You can include in medical expenses the difference between the cost of a regular car and a car specially designed to hold a wheelchair. Cost of operation: You cannot deduct the cost of operating a specially equipped car, except as discussed under Transportation, later.

 

13. Chiropractor: You can include in medical expenses fees you pay to a chiropractor for medical care.

 

14. Christian Science Practitioner: You can include in medical expenses fees you pay to Christian Science practitioners for medical care.

 

15. Contact Lenses: You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for contact lenses needed for medical reasons. You can also include the cost of equipment and materials required for using contact lenses, such as saline solution and enzyme cleaner. See Eyeglasses and Eye Surgery, later.

 

16. Crutches: You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay to buy or rent crutches.

 

17. Dental Treatment: You can include in medical expenses the amounts you pay for dental treatment. This includes fees paid to dentists for X-rays, fillings, braces, extractions, dentures, etc. But see Teeth Whitening under What Expenses Are Not Includible, later.

 

18. Diagnostic Devices: You can include in medical expenses the cost of devices used in diagnosing and treating illness and disease. Example: You have diabetes and use a blood sugar test kit to monitor your blood sugar level. You can include the cost of the blood sugar test kit in your medical expenses.

 

19. Disabled Dependent Care Expenses: Some disabled dependent care expenses may qualify as either:

Medical expenses, or Work-related expenses for purposes of taking a credit for dependent care.

You can choose to apply them either way as long as you do not use the same expenses to claim both a credit and a medical expense deduction.

 

20. Drug Addiction: You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for an inpatient's treatment at a therapeutic center for drug addiction. This includes meals and lodging at the center during treatment.

 

21. Drugs: See Medicines, later.

 

22. Eyeglasses: You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for eyeglasses and contact lenses

needed for medical reasons. You can also include fees paid for eye examinations.

 

23. Eye Surgery: You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay for eye surgery to treat defective vision, such as laser eye surgery or radial keratotomy.

 

24. Fertility Enhancement: You can include in medical expenses the cost of the following procedures to overcome an inability to have children. Procedures such as in vitro fertilization (including temporary storage of eggs or sperm). Surgery, including an operation to reverse prior surgery that prevented the person operated on from having children.

 

25. Founder's Fee: See Lifetime Care—Advance Payments, later.

 

26. Guide Dog or Other Animal: You can include in medical expenses the cost of a guide dog or other animal to be used by a visually impaired or hearing-impaired person. You can also include the cost of a dog or other animal trained to assist persons with other physical disabilities. Amounts you pay for the care of these specially trained animals are also medical expenses.

 

27. Health Institute: You can include in medical expenses fees you pay for treatment at a health institute only if the treatment is prescribed by a physician and the physician issues a statement that the treatment is necessary to alleviate a physical or mental defect or illness of the individual receiving the treatment.

28. Health Maintenance Organization (HMO): You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay to entitle you, or your spouse or a dependent to receive medical care from a health maintenance organization. These amounts are treated as medical insurance premiums. See Insurance Premiums, later.

 

29. Hearing Aids: You can include in medical expenses the cost of a hearing aid and the batteries you buy to operate it.

 

30. Home Care: See Nursing Services, later.

 

31. Home Improvements: See Capital Expenses, earlier.

 

 

32. Hospital Services: You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for the cost of inpatient care at a hospital or similar institution if a principal reason for being there is to receive medical care. This includes amounts paid for meals and lodging. Also see Lodging, later.

 

33. Insurance Premiums: You can include in medical expenses insurance premiums you pay for policies that cover medical care. Policies can provide payment for:Hospitalization, surgical fees, X-rays, etc.,

Prescription drugs,Replacement of lost or damaged contact lenses,Membership in an association that gives cooperative or so-called “free-choice” medical service, or group hospitalization and clinical care, or

Qualified long-term care insurance contracts (subject to additional limitations).Qualified Long-Term Care Insurance Contracts under Long-Term Care, later. If you have a policy that provides more than one kind of payment, you can include the premiums for the medical care part of the policy if the charge for the medical part is reasonable. The cost of the medical part must be separately stated in the insurance contract or given to you in a separate statement. Note: When figuring the amount of insurance premiums you can deduct on Schedule A, do not include any health coverage tax credit advance payments shown on Form 1099-H, box 1. Also, if you are claiming the health coverage tax credit, subtract the amount shown on Form 8885, line 4 (reduced by any advance payments shown on line 6 of that form), from the total insurance premiums you paid.

Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Plan: Do not include in your medical and dental expenses on Schedule A (Form 1040) any insurance premiums paid by an employer-sponsored health insurance plan unless the premiums are included on your Form W-2, box 1. Also, do not include on Schedule A (Form 1040) any other medical and dental expenses paid by the plan unless the amount paid is included on your Form W-2, box 1. Example: You are a federal employee participating in the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) program. Your share of the FEHB premium is paid with pre-tax dollars. Because you are an employee whose insurance premiums are paid with money that is never included in your gross income, you cannot deduct the premiums paid with that money.

Long-term care services:  Contributions made by your employer to provide coverage for qualified long-term care services under a flexible spending or similar arrangement must be included in your income. This amount will be reported as wages on your Form W-2, box 1.

Health reimbursement arrangement (HRA): If you have medical expenses that are reimbursed by a health reimbursement arrangement, you cannot include those expenses in your medical expenses. This is because an HRA is funded solely by the employer. Medicare A : If you are covered under social security (or if you are a government employee who paid Medicare tax), you are enrolled in Medicare A. The payroll tax paid for Medicare A is not a medical expense. If you are not covered under social security (or were not a government employee who paid Medicare tax), you can voluntarily enroll in Medicare A. In this situation you can include the premiums you paid for Medicare A as a medical expense. Medicare B: Medicare B is a supplemental medical insurance. Premiums you pay for Medicare B are a medical expense. If you applied for it at age 65 or after you became disabled, you can include in medical expenses the monthly premiums you paid. If you were over age 65 or disabled when you first enrolled, check the information you received from the Social Security Administration to find out your premium.

Prepaid Insurance Premiums: Premiums you pay before you are age 65 for insurance for medical care for yourself, your spouse, or your dependents after you reach age 65 are medical care expenses in the year paid if they are: Payable in equal yearly installments or more often, and payable for at least 10 years, or until you reach age 65 (but not for less than 5 years).

Unused Sick Leave Used to Pay Premiums: You must include in gross income cash payments you receive at the time of retirement for unused sick leave. You also must include in gross income the value of unused sick leave that, at your option, your employer applies to the cost of your continuing participation in your employer's health plan after you retire. You can include this cost of continuing participation in the health plan as a medical expense. If you participate in a health plan where your employer automatically applies the value of unused sick leave to the cost of your continuing participation in the health plan (and you do not have the option to receive cash), do not include the value of the unused sick leave in gross income. You cannot include this cost of continuing participation in that health plan as a medical expense.

Insurance Premiums You Cannot Include

You cannot include premiums you pay for: Life insurance policies, policies providing payment for loss of earnings, policies for loss of life, limb, sight, etc., policies that pay you a guaranteed amount each week for a stated number of weeks if you are hospitalized for sickness or injury, or the part of your car insurance premiums that provides medical insurance coverage for all persons injured in or by your car because the part of the premium for you, your spouse, and your dependents is not stated separately from the part of the premium for medical care for others.

 

34. Laboratory Fees: You can include in medical expenses the amounts you pay for laboratory fees that are part of medical care.

 

35. Lead-Based Paint Removal : You can include in medical expenses the cost of removing lead-based paints from surfaces in your home to prevent a child who has or has had lead poisoning from eating the paint. These surfaces must be in poor repair (peeling or cracking) or within the child's reach. The cost of repainting the scraped area is not a medical expense. If, instead of removing the paint, you cover the area with wallboard or paneling, treat these items as capital expenses. See Capital Expenses, earlier. Do not include the cost of painting the wallboard as a medical expense.

 

36. Learning Disability: See Special Education, later.

 

37. Legal Fees: You can include in medical expenses legal fees you paid that are necessary to authorize treatment for mental illness. However, you cannot include in medical expenses fees for the management of a guardianship estate, fees for conducting the affairs of the person being treated, or other fees that are not necessary for medical care.

 

38. Lifetime Care—Advance Payments: You can include in medical expenses a part of a life-care fee or “founder's fee” you pay either monthly or as a lump sum under an agreement with a retirement home. The part of the payment you include is the amount properly allocable to medical care. The agreement must require that you pay a specific fee as a condition for the home's promise to provide lifetime care that includes medical care. You can use a statement from the retirement home to prove the amount properly allocable to medical care. The statement must be based either on the home's prior experience or on information from a comparable home. Dependents with disabilities: You can include in medical expenses advance payments to a private institution for lifetime care, treatment, and training of your physically or mentally impaired child upon your death or when you become unable to provide care. The payments must be a condition for the institution's future acceptance of your child and must not be refundable. Payments for future medical care: Generally, you cannot include in medical expenses current payments for medical care (including medical insurance) to be provided substantially beyond the end of the year. This rule does not apply in situations where the future care is purchased in connection with obtaining lifetime care of the type described earlier.

 

39. Lodging : You can include in medical expenses the cost of meals and lodging at a hospital or similar institution if a principal reason for being there is to receive medical care. See Nursing Home, later.

You may be able to include in medical expenses the cost of lodging not provided in a hospital or similar institution. You can include the cost of such lodging while away from home if all of the following requirements are met: The lodging is primarily for and essential to medical care, the medical care is provided by a doctor in a licensed hospital or in a medical care facility related to, or the equivalent of, a licensed hospital, the lodging is not lavish or extravagant under the circumstances, there is no significant element of personal pleasure, recreation, or vacation in the travel away from home, the amount you include in medical expenses for lodging cannot be more than $50 for each night for each person.You can include lodging for a person traveling with the person receiving the medical care. For example, if a parent is traveling with a sick child, up to $100 per night can be included as a medical expense for lodging. Meals are not included. Do not include the cost of lodging while away from home for medical treatment if that treatment is not received from a doctor in a licensed hospital or in a medical care facility related to, or the equivalent of, a licensed hospital or if that lodging is not primarily for or essential to the medical care received.

 

40. Long-Term Care: You can include in medical expenses amounts paid for qualified long-term care services and premiums paid for qualified long-term care insurance contracts. Qualified Long-Term Care Services : Qualified long-term care services are necessary diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, curing, treating, mitigating, rehabilitative services, and maintenance and personal care services (defined later) that are: Required by a chronically ill individual, and Provided pursuant to a plan of care prescribed by a licensed health care practitioner. Chronically ill individual: An individual is chronically ill if, within the previous 12 months, a licensed health care practitioner has certified that the individual meets either of the following descriptions: He or she is unable to perform at least two activities of daily living without substantial assistance from another individual for at least 90 days, due to a loss of functional capacity. Activities of daily living are eating, toileting, transferring, bathing, dressing, and continence. He or she requires substantial supervision to be protected from threats to health and safety due to severe cognitive impairment. Maintenance and personal care services:  Maintenance or personal care services is care which has as its primary purpose the providing of a chronically ill individual with needed assistance with his or her disabilities (including protection from threats to health and safety due to severe cognitive impairment). Qualified Long-Term Care Insurance Contracts:

A qualified long-term care insurance contract is an insurance contract that provides only coverage of qualified long-term care services. The contract must: Be guaranteed renewable,not provide for a cash surrender value or other money that can be paid, assigned, pledged, or borrowed, provide that refunds, other than refunds on the death of the insured or complete surrender or cancellation of the contract, and dividends under the contract must be used only to reduce future premiums or increase future benefits, and

generally not pay or reimburse expenses incurred for services or items that would be reimbursed under Medicare, except where Medicare is a secondary payer, or the contract makes per diem or other periodic payments without regard to expenses. The amount of qualified long-term care premiums you can include is limited. You can include the following as medical expenses on Schedule A (Form 1040).

Qualified long-term care premiums up to the amounts shown below Age 40 or under – $260  Age 41 to 50 – $490 Age 51 to 60 – $980.Age 61 to 70 – $2,600.Age 71 or over – $3,2 Unreimbursed expenses for qualified long-term care services. Note: The limit on premiums is for each person.