Reimbursement of Medical Charges Rules

You can include in medical expenses the cost of devices that display the audio portion of television programs as subtitles for people with hearing loss. This can be the cost of an adapter that plugs into a regular assembly. It can also be the part of the cost of a specially equipped TV that exceeds the cost of the same normal TV model. If you are a retired public safety officer, do not include health or long-term care insurance premiums among the medical expenses you paid with tax-free distributions from a pension plan. This only applies to distributions that would otherwise be included in profits. Medical expenses are the costs of diagnosing, curing, relieving, treating or preventing diseases and for the purpose of affecting any part or function of the body. These expenditures include payments for legal medical services provided by physicians, surgeons, dentists and other physicians. They include the cost of equipment, consumables and diagnostic equipment necessary for these purposes. You may also include amounts in the medical expenses you pay for transportation to and from Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in your community if participation is consistent with medical advice that Alcoholics Anonymous membership is required for the treatment of a condition involving excessive drinking. You can include the amount you pay for an annual physical exam and diagnostic tests by a doctor in the medical expenses. You do not need to be sick at the time of the test.

If you did not deduct medical expenses in the year you paid them because your medical expenses were no more than 7.5% of your MGA or because you did not break down the deductions, you do not include reimbursement up to the amount of expenses in income. However, if the reimbursement is greater than the cost, see What to do if your insurance coverage is greater than your medical expenses, above. Traveling to another city for surgery or other medical care for purely personal reasons. If you have a policy that provides payments for non-medical care, you can include premiums for the medical portion in the policy if the fees for the medical portion are reasonable. The costs of the medical part must be indicated separately in the insurance contract or communicated to you in a separate statement. You cannot include amounts in medical expenses that you deposit into a health savings account. You cannot include expenses you pay with a tax-free distribution from your health savings account. You also cannot use other funds that correspond to the amount of the distribution and include expenses.

For more information, see Pub. 969. If your employer or former employer covers the full cost of your health insurance and your employer`s contributions are not included in your income, you must report all your excess repayments as miscellaneous income. Even if a policy only provides for reimbursement of certain specific medical expenses, you should use the amounts you receive from that policy to reduce your overall medical expenses, including those that are not reimbursed. The adjusted base is the portion of the cost of equipment or property that you could not deduct because of the 7.5% or 10% AGI limit used to calculate your medical deduction. Refer to your Appendix A for the year the cost was included to determine which limit applied to you. Use Worksheet D to determine the custom basis for the equipment or property. You can include the cost of legal sterilization (an operation legally performed to make a person unable to have children) in medical expenses. See also vasectomy, later. You and your three brothers each provide a quarter of your mother`s total support.

Under a multiple support agreement, you treat your mother like your parent. They paid all their medical bills. Your brothers have reimbursed you three-quarters of these expenses. When you calculate your medical expense deduction, you can only include a quarter of your mother`s medical expenses. Your brothers cannot cover part of the expenses. However, if you and your brothers share the non-medical support items and you pay all of your mother`s medical expenses separately, you can include the unreimbursed amount you paid for her medical expenses in your medical expenses. You can include in the medical expenses the amounts you pay to enable you, your spouse or a loved one to receive medical care from an HMO. These amounts are treated as health insurance premiums. See Insurance Premiums , below.

The amount specified in the contract or provided by the insurance company is not disproportionate to the total cost of the contract. You can also include a portion of the amount you pay for that companion`s meals in medical expenses. Divide the cost of food among household members to determine the cost of food for the companion. Then, divide these costs in the same way as in the previous paragraph. If you had to pay extra for housekeeping because of the attendant, you can include the extra amounts in your medical expenses. This includes extra rent or utilities you pay because you moved to a larger apartment to make room for the companion. You can include the cost of a hearing aid and batteries, repairs and maintenance necessary for operation in the medical expenses. You cannot include the cost of domestic help in medical expenses, even if such help is recommended by a doctor. This is a personal expense and is not deductible. However, you may be able to include some expenses paid to a person who provides care-type services. For more information, see Nursing Services, above under What medical expenses are included. Certain maintenance or personal care services provided for eligible long-term care may also be included in medical expenses.

For more information, see Long-Term Care, above under What are the medical expenses. Standard mileage rate. The standard mileage allowed for the costs of operating a car if you use it for medical reasons is 20 cents per mile. See transportation under What medical expenses are included, below. Eligible medical expenses paid by the deceased prior to death are not deductible if paid with a tax-free distribution from an Archer MSA, Medicare Advantage MSA or Health Savings Account. You can include medical expenses you paid for a child before the adoption if the child was eligible as a dependant when they provided the medical services or paid the expenses. You cannot include the cost of meals that are not part of inpatient care in medical expenses. See also Weight Loss Program and Dietary Supplements, below. You can include in the medical expenses the amount you pay to buy a pregnancy test kit to determine if you are pregnant. If you and your spouse live in a non-EU property state and file separate declarations, each of you can only declare the medical expenses that each has actually paid.

All medical expenses paid from a joint checking account where you and your spouse have the same interest will be deemed to have been paid equally by each of you, unless you can prove otherwise. You must include cash payments received at retirement for unused sick days in your gross income. You must also include in gross income the value of unused sick leave that your employer, at your option, applies to the detriment of your continued participation in your employer`s health plan after you retire. You can include these costs as medical expenses for ongoing participation in the health care plan. If you paid medical expenses for your deceased spouse or dependant, report them as Schedule A medical expenses (Form 1040 or 1040-SR) during the pay year, whether they are paid before or after the death of the deceased. Expenses may be included if the person was your spouse or dependent, either at the time the medical services were provided or at the time you paid the expenses. You can include in the medical cost the difference between the cost of a normal car and a car specially designed for a wheelchair. Medical expenses include the premiums you pay for insurance that covers the cost of medical care and the amounts you pay for transportation to receive medical care. Medical expenses also include amounts paid for eligible care services and limited amounts paid for eligible long-term care insurance contracts. Use Worksheet A to determine how much of your capital expenses to include in your medical expenses. You can include in medical expenses the portion of the cost of Braille books and magazines for a visually impaired person that is higher than the cost of regular print editions.

In general, you cannot include ongoing payments for medical care (including health insurance) that are provided substantially beyond the end of the year in medical expenses. This rule does not apply in situations where future care is acquired through lifelong care of the type described above. You can only include the fees you pay for treatment in a health facility in the medical expenses if the treatment is prescribed by a doctor and the doctor states that the treatment is necessary to relieve a physical or mental disability or illness of the person receiving the treatment.