How to Claim Medical Expenses as a Deduction

Male: Can I claim medical expenses as a deduction?
Art: Yes you can. But remember the medical expenses you claim here are the ones that are not reimbursed. So you take your total medical expenses, you subtract that reimbursements you got from insurance companies or medicare or things that were paid by Medicaid, you subtract out the amount that you got back from your cafeteria plan or flexible spending arrangement at your employer and the net result is what you have available left to be medical expenses. Now they can be doctor visits, the things that most people forget are parking or toll to get to or from doctors or hospitals. There’s a deduction for medical mileage, so if you use your car, obviously, not all your doctor’s and dentist’s are in the basement of your house, so you gonna come go to get there, all that mileage can add up and base on the mileage allowance that the IRS gives you, that can add up to an additional medical deduction. Eyeglasses, prescription medications that are not reimburse or paid for, all your co pay, people tend to forget that if you are covered by an insurance carrier, maybe you got a 15 or 20 or 25 dollar co pay at the physician’s office or service provider, add up all of those co pays, because that’s a medical deduction. You are at a pocket. Look at your pay stub that we refer to earlier, if you are participating with the employer in the cost of your medical coverage. So the employer pays for the employee only, but you pay for dependent care, that’s a medical deduction. There’s a limited deduction for long term care insurance as well. Now all of that gets added up and it’s subject to a limitation of 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income. So to get a medical deduction, all of those expenses have to exceed seven and a half percent of the bottom line on page one of your 1040.


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